Joan and Sherlock
by phaedraphelan
Summary: How do Joan and Sherlock work out in the final analysis? We are deep into the possibility of Sherlock and Joan as a couple, some of this based on canon, but with definite areas of divergence that will be quite obvious as we put the final two chapters in this piece. Serious Joanlock . . . Beyond, beyond and beyond. Feel free to comment and review.
1. Chapter 1

**Joan and Sherlock**

**By phaedraphelan**

**Word count 7,700**

**Chapter 1**

Summary: What has happened to Sherlock and Joan in the wake of recent events? How can they help each other through this? This is simply one possible take on what caused Joan to fall into Mycroft's arms and what his sudden exit from her life caused her to realize. We are so challenged in the face of what has happened to our favorite characters! But there is more to be said.

Disclaimer: Elementary is the artistic property of CBS and no infringement is intended.

**S****herlock had never been so devastated as at the sight of Joan in Mycroft's bed. He had tried to dismiss it in the face of it with his normal cynical response, but it shook him to his foundations in a way that nothing else could have.**

**He sat in Alfredo's car later that day trying to explain what had happened in his life. He looked like had lost his last friend, but he felt like he had to talk to someone about his pain of heart and his sponsor and he had developed a certain rapport.**

**"So where is Watson these days, Sherlock? Has she recovered from all that happened?"**

**Sherlock started to speak, but then he had to choke back a sob.**

**"No, not really. She . . . she is with Mycroft. I found them together today at his place." Sherlock put his face in his hands as his tears began to stream down his cheeks.**

**"Joan and your brother? Serious?"**

**"Serious, Alfredo. They are . . . together. They . . . had coitus."**

**"Sherlock! Man, you know this for a fact?"**

**"Alfredo, you must understand something about Mycroft and me. When we were children, he always took my favorite toy from me. All he had to know was that it was something I fancied and he set out to take it from me. Now he has taken Joan. He told me that he knew that I loved her more than anyone in the whole world . . . and then, damn him, he took her from me. He took her into his bed. I saw her in Mycroft's damn bed, Alfredo!"**

**It was obvious that Sherlock was going to be sick. He grabbed his belly, gagged, opened the car door and vomited onto the curb outside the car.**

**"Hey man, how did that happen? I thought . . . I mean . . . you two. I guess I thought she knew how you felt about her."**

**"I have tried to respect her sexually. I never touched her that way. I did not want to take advantage of her, living and working together the way we do. I didn't want to affect other things. But I admit that I love her and I have wanted her that way . . . for quite a while now. I was hoping for the appropriate time."**

**"Man, you gots to let a woman know where you stand. If you want her, you fight for her. Personally I thought you two already had it goin' on . . . the way you guys look at each other, the way you work together. There ain't no mystery to me when I see two people look at each other the way you and Watson do."**

**"Are my feelings for her that obvious?"**

**"Well, yeah, I thought you two were kickin' it for a while now."**

**"I have not declared my feelings to her, I . . . I couldn't tell her, Alfredo."**

**"Man, you know you got a case for her! How you let Mycroft get up in your business like that?"**

** "I . . . I don't know what happened. I just don't know how to face being without her in my life."**

**"Man, you mean you never told her that you had feelings for her?"**

**"I felt it would jeopardize our partnership . . . but when I saw her with him . . . God! It was like I took a blow to my gut."**

**"Does she really want him or what? Do you know?"  
**

**Sherlock just shook his head. He was in a cold sweat, totally sick and devastated by the whole situation, his hands shaking as he contemplated his circumstance.**

**"I think we need a meeting, Sherlock. Let's go . . . now."**

**True, Sherlock was known to say that he disdained sex as anything more than a release of a safety valve in his own case, but in his heart he had allowed an attachment for Joan to grow that involved a deep physical and emotional attraction to her unlike anything he had ever experienced in his life. It was very akin to a marriage in every way except that they had not been intimate sexually. That did not mean however, that he had not cherished in the deep recesses of his heart and mind his desire for Joan, to mate with her sexually, to be her one and only man. It was there and had been there from almost the beginning. They both had simply fought it and kept their distance from each other—Joan because she did not want anything to jeopardize the delicate balance between intimacy and knowledge that characterized their partnership, Sherlock, because he knew that if he unleashed his passions upon Joan, there would be no turning back from that, and he did not know how that might affect them in their working together. It had been the 'elephant in the room' with them from the beginning.**

**When Sherlock first realized that Mycroft and Joan had been together in London, that itself had made him physically ill. He knew that he and Mycroft had always been in competition with each other from their teen age years, but he had not anticipated that this would happen. Yes, he had involved himself with Nigella, the Marchioness, when she and Mycroft were engaged, but he knew that she was an amoral woman. She had propositioned him, in fact, and he had taken her simply to prove to Mycroft that a marriage alliance with her would be ill-advised. This was different. **

**It was three days later when Mycroft came to the brownstone to announce his decision to fake his own death in order to save his life. Sherlock and Joan were at the point of solving all the loose ends of the case framed against Mycroft but he capitulated and planned his own exit strategy. Sherlock was stunned and Joan was devastated when Mycroft announced that he was walking away from what she viewed as a newly formed relationship without even respecting her enough to discuss his possible options with her.**

**They stood silently after Mycroft left them.**

**Finally Joan spoke without even looking at Sherlock.**

**"He told me about Sedoma Hann, that you had problems you with MI 6 because of your dealings with him, that you did not know Hann was financing a terrorist plot against the British government. He said that he had covered for you, that that was why he imbedded with Le Milieu. . . that he wanted to protect you. I do want to protect you. It changed how I viewed what he had done, how I viewed him. You asked me why I allowed myself to be involved sexually with him when I had rejected him completely. There you have it, Sherlock."**

**"Why didn't you tell me, give me the opportunity to explain to you what happened. I would gladly have shared that with you. Even when I was on heroin, I never lost sight of who the true enemy was. Sedoma Hann was and still is under deep cover. Do you think for a moment that MI 6 would ask me to work for them after such a miscalculation?"**

**"I'm sorry. I was so stressed and I . . . believed him. I have . . . " Joan's voice broke and she turned and ran up the stairs to her room.**

**Sherlock was stunned. It all made sense now. Mycroft knew that Sherlock loved Joan more than anyone else in the whole world and had said as much, but Mycroft also sensed that Joan loved Sherlock more than anyone in the world and would do whatever was necessary to protect him. He used that knowledge when he set about to take her and lie down with her, using whatever subterfuge or misinformation he had at hand to influence her to believe that in some way the two of them were taking care of Sherlock. He had deliberately misled Joan by telling her that Sherlock had mistakenly worked in behalf of a terrorist and that that was why he, Mycroft, had gone back to work for Le Milieu. That had caused Joan to take Mycroft after first rejecting him in no uncertain terms. He slyly used her love of Sherlock to get her for himself. Then, when things spiraled out of control, he had taken the coward's way out, faking his own death, rather than allowing Sherlock to solve the mystery, and fix the problem.**

**Mycroft had said that he loved Sherlock, his younger brother, and Sherlock knew that he probably did in his own twisted way, but Mycroft did not know or truly understand Sherlock, and he did not know how to love him or he would not have violated Joan, who was in reality Sherlock's woman the way that he did, and then tossed her aside after using her. He committed the ultimate insult against his brother and against Joan. Then he simply took leave of her on that last day as if she should have expected that to happen.**

**After Mycroft broke his news to them, Joan had gone upstairs to her room and fallen across her bed, stunned and shaking. She tried to remember what had actually transpired between Mycroft and her. He had been "adequate" in bed, but had been less engaged than she would have thought. He spoke very little during their lovemaking and he came to climax much too soon for Joan to be completely satisfied. Joan had attributed his low key approach to the stress of the recent events. When Joan revealed to him that she had told Sherlock that she was moving out, Mycroft seemed strangely quiet, almost noncommittal. It was as if suddenly he was realizing that Joan was not a simple dalliance or diversion. They lay quietly in his bed and then had simply decided to get dressed and go on with life, when Sherlock had burst into the bedroom where they were. Now Joan was left feeling used, rather than loved, embarrassed and saddened by her whole encounter with Mycroft. She realized again that she did not really know Mycroft, that whereas she knew what kind of man Sherlock was and she understood him with all his frailties and quirks, she had no such knowledge of his brother, that Mycroft had not been totally honest with her, that he had perhaps used her to simply prove to Sherlock that he was able to have whatever he had, unable to resist the competition that had gone on all of their lives. **

**After Mycroft took his leave, Sherlock stood alone in that room where he and Joan had spent so much time together utterly devastated. He felt such a mixture of feelings toward Mycroft—anger at how he had turned his life upside down, understanding of Mycroft's need to express his brotherly feelings toward him, resentment at him for his conduct toward Joan. He looked in the direction of the stairs where Joan had fled and wanted to go to her, but he refrained from doing so. She had already lost face by getting involved with Mycroft when his motives had not been what she thought they were. That on top of the trauma of being kidnapped and held by Le Milieu, being unable to save the life of a severely wounded young man in her hands, and witnessing Mycroft order the execution of a half dozen men right in front of her, had left her totally wrung out and devastated emotionally. **

**Sherlock did not dare to go to her at this point. He wanted to take her into his arms and declare his love for her, but he did not dare upset the delicate balance in their relationship. That did not change the pain in the pit of his stomach as he contemplated his situation with Joan, the reality that she was planning to move out of the brownstone and away from day to day association with him. He went to meet with Sir Walter and proceeded to arrange to work for MI 6. **

**After his conversation with Sir Walter, Sherlock walked about the city for the rest of the afternoon contemplating the strange turn of events in his life, trying to make some sense from what had happened to him and to Joan. Mycroft had succeeded in wrecking his relationship with Joan and then walked out of their lives, leaving them both in shambles emotionally. If it had not been for his work on himself with Joan and Alfredo, Sherlock would have headed for one of the squats where he would have drowned his hurt in heroin.**

**Sherlock went back to the brownstone by evening and sat down for a long time letting his anxiety just wash over him. He put a CD on, one of his favorites, Rod Stewart singing the Isley Brothers classic, "This Old Heart of Mine." It seemed to fit the sadness of the mood he found himself in. As much as what had happened between Mycroft and Joan had hurt him, broken his heart, he would not have hesitated to take Joan back in ****an instant. "If you leave me a hundred times, a hundred times I'll take you back" the song said. That is just how much he loved Joan. "You got me not knowing if I'm coming or going."**

_**I don't know if I'm coming or going. I'm lost in my feelings for her. I see her and this passion for wells up in me and I want her like I have never wanted a woman. I don't care if she was with Mycroft. It was my fault for not declaring myself to her. Now I don't know what I will do without her in my life.**_

**He finally got up and made tea. He had not heard a sound from upstairs since his return to the house, so he mustered up his nerve and carried a cup of Earl Grey up to Joan's room and knocked on her door.**

**"****What is it, Sherlock?" Joan answered, her voice muffled by her pillows.**

**"****I brought you tea. May I bring it in, Watson?"**

**"****Yes, but I can't talk now. I just can't."**

**Sherlock brought the tea in and sat it on the chair beside her bed. Joan had obviously been crying, her eyes red, her face tear-stained. Sherlock had never seen her cry.**

**"I'm sorry, Watson. I'm so damned sorry . . . for everything."**

**Suddenly Joan broke down into sobs and fell onto her pillow.**

**"****I was so stupid, Sherlock. Mycroft didn't care for me. How could I have been so stupid? I can't hold my head up now."**

**"****I am truly sorry, Joan. Please, have your cry out, but know that I understand. This whole sorry mess has been a trauma for you."**

**"****Why did he seek to be with me, Sherlock, if he planned to walk off and leave just like that? He didn't respect me enough to discuss the matters between us before simply taking his leave. I am left feeling like nothing but a slut, a whore," Joan said, her voice breaking again as her emotions overwhelmed her.**

**It was all Sherlock could do to hold himself back from reaching out to embrace Joan as he saw her so affected by what had happened to her. His voice was gentle as he spoke his next words.**

**"You are not a . . . a whore, Watson." he said, finding it difficult to use the word in a sentence that referred to Joan. "You, my dear Watson, truly are the lady of this house. Mycroft knows that you are not a whore. But he also ****knew . . . knows that I . . . I love you more than anyone else in the whole world. That is why he wanted to take you from me. You were to him simply a pawn in a cruel game."**

**"****You . . . you love me?" Joan was stunned and sat up and looked at Sherlock, backing away from him on her bed. "But not that way, not like that?"**

**Sherlock felt his emotions causing his chest to tighten and his eyes to well up.**

**"****Yes, like that and every other way there is to love another person. I confess it to you. I don't expect you to do anything about my declaration, but you deserve to know it."**

**"****I thought that you did not have those feelings . . . for anyone, that you were the one who had renounced love."**

**"****I have had to try to deny these feelings in myself. I have had to lie to myself constantly to try to keep from touching you, my dear Watson. I felt that it would be inappropriate for me to nurture my passionate feelings toward you, and that you would be . . . repulsed by what you would view simply as base and lustful behavior on my part. I even feared my inability to find pleasure due to the anhedonia caused by my past drug use might make it impossible to take care of your needs. You know me, Watson, all that there is to know, more than anyone else, warts and all."**

**Joan stared into Sherlock's bluegreen eyes and saw his sadness mingled with his tender feeling that filled them and sensed the truth of his words.**

**"****Oh God, I am so sorry. Sherlock, I am so sorry."**

**"****As am I, dear Watson . . . as am I."**

**Sherlock at that moment felt a surge of something totally new and different in his flesh, a surge of passionate desire running up and down his spine that took him all the way back to when he first became sexually active in his late teens. That sensation merged with his mature sensual nature and came upon him so suddenly and so powerfully that it ****shocked him, nearly taking his breath away in a powerful surge in the pit of his belly. He quickly turned away from Joan to shield her from the evidence of his arousal****, got up immediately and walked from her room and back downstairs, leaving a stunned Joan sitting on her bed.**

**Suddenly Joan experienced a moment of perfect clarity when she realized that the man that had walked from her bedroom was the man that really loved her. She saw clearly the sibling rivalry that had pushed Mycroft to make such a decided play for her as soon as he discerned that she was the focus of Sherlock's passions. Mycroft also knew that Joan loved Sherlock and played upon her protective and nurturing side to draw her toward him as he knew that she would accept him if she felt that she and Mycroft shared a common interest in Sherlock's welfare. Joan also now realized that her feelings for Sherlock that had all but consumed her to the point of frustration were shared by Sherlock toward her as well. **

**Joan's hands ****began to shake and tremble as she realized how she had been taken advantage of and how Mycroft had risked her life and Sherlock's life in his game of rivalry with his brother. She felt completely used and abused somehow, that she had broken something between Sherlock and herself by allowing Mycroft to touch her. She went back in her mind over her relationship with Sherlock, all the things that had happened between them, all the little nuances, the unspoken words that should have told her how he felt about her. He had been fastidious in his avoidance of direct physical contact, but during their time living together they had exposed themselves to each other completely in other ways that were unique, ways that were so intimate that their motivation could not be ignored. She had seen Sherlock in all circumstances, sometimes wearing just a tee shirt and that favorite pair of his old worn sweatpants that hung from his hip bones and could not by any means shield the fact of his very generous genitalia from her view. ****She knew the scent of him so well now, that special blend of violin rosin, beeswax and sandalwood, the sight of him when he was obviously in pain emotionally, the look of childlike joy in his clear blue-green eyes when he discovered something that was truly a revelation to his keen mind, the sight of him sleeping sprawled like a little boy on the sofa or on the floor when exhaustion finally took him down in his tracks.**

**At length Joan got up and took a long very hot shower, attempting to cleanse every aspect of Mycroft from her flesh. She was done with him. He was gone, taking most of her own self-respect with him. She would have been proud to have been labeled as Sherlock's woman. He had even called her "the lady of his house." They had history together, reason to be together. But in the case of Mycroft she was simply a "bird" that he had had a fling with.**

**When Joan finished showering, she wrapped herself in her favorite soft dark green robe and went downstairs to Sherlock, who sat on the sofa in front of the fire with a cup of Earl Grey growing cold in front of him. **

**"****Sherlock, please forgive me . . . for not knowing . . . for not knowing how you felt."**

**Sherlock looked up at her and then back down at his hands that lay open on his lap.**

**"****My dear Watson, this not your fault. I hold no resentment toward you whatsoever. I . . ."**

**"****I love you too, Sherlock. I have loved you for a very long time. I tried to deny my feelings for you, to keep everything very over-and-above-board between you and me, but as hard as I tried, it did not change anything. I want you to touch me."**

**Sherlock stared at Joan as if he could not believe what he was hearing. They both were quiet for a very long moment, and then Joan sat down beside Sherlock on the sofa, put her head on his shoulder and took one of his large hands in both of hers. They were both trembling as their passionate desires came powerfully to the fore.**

**"****I realize that I do not went you to be with anyone else, Joan. I want no other man to touch you because I want to be the only man that touches you. I have loved you since the first day you walked into this brownstone. At first I did not want to call it 'love' because that would be an admission on my part that I am just as vulnerable as any other human to such passionate emotions. But I am only human. I admit that now. ****That is all that I am, a human, a weak man, a pitiable recovering drug addict gifted with mental brilliance but cursed with the inability to understand my own humanity, who has fallen hopelessly in love. I love you, Joan Watson. Like that song says, 'if you leave me a hundred times, I will take you back a hundred times,' because I love you."**

**"****I thought that you regarded sex as a simple release . . . something that you used to maintain your mental acuity. You have never come to me for that kind of thing."**

**"****I have human needs, Watson. On one level I was simply taking care of them by seeking out whores to take care of these, but I knew that on another level completely, I wanted you. I wanted to touch your body and find my hand wet with your essence. Every time you walked into this brownstone and I inhaled the scent of you, every time I heard your footsteps coming in my direction, every time I looked at you . . . at your lovely body, your dark beautiful eyes, the lushness of your hair, your delicate hands, the shape of your . . . hips and . . . the swell of your . . . your breasts with their proud . . . n-nipples. I look at you and . . . forgive my saying this, but I . . . I have wanted so much to . . . to just lie in your arms and suckle your breasts, my dear Watson. I have wanted to . . . be with you. I desire you so. I cannot . . . I dare not keep on. I feel as if I will burst if I do not tell you what is in my heart. These intense feelings have not abated, but I continue to suffer for the need of you. There is so much, much . . . so much more that I want . . . that I need to say."**

**Sherlock looked into Joan's eyes and Joan took his hand and put it against her cheek. Joan was crying now . . . her tears streaming down through her fingers onto his hand. **

**"****I was so scared, Sherlock, when they kidnapped me, but I knew that you would save me. I keep dreaming about it even now. I needed you so then, Sherlock, and . . . I still need you. I need you to hold me in your arms and tell me that everything will be all right. I only feel truly safe when I am with you."**

**"I would have gladly killed those men who took you. I was frantic, Joan. I threatened to torture to death one of them because of you. I was in agony, fearful for your safety," Sherlock said, choking back a sob.**

**Sherlock took Joan up into his arms and held her tightly as she finally let out all her anxiety and fears from the trauma she had experienced. She was trembling, clinging to him, reliving the horrors of being kidnapped and held by Le Milieu. Sherlock drew her onto his lap and held her. He immediately became completely aroused by the close physical contact, and he could no longer shield her from the ****state of his flesh, as he attempted to soothe her with words to her that he had never realized were in his heart as he stroked her shoulders and then found the curve of her flank, buried his face in her hair and then finally gasped as he buried his face between her breasts.**

**"It's all right now, my dear Watson. I . . . I will always keep you safe. I was so terrified for you . . . so terrified. But I was so helpless . . . Watson. . . Joan! When I tried to come for you, I made the mistake of turning my back to Mycroft and he tazered me, rendered me unconscious. When I regained consciousness, I was frantic to find you. I even begged the NSA people to help me find you."**

**"****Please hold me, Sherlock. Please don't let me go. There is no one else. I . . . just need to know that you understand and that you will keep me safe, Sherlock."**

**"****I will keep you safe. I will . . . will always be here, Joan."**

**Suddenly the air was charged with their passions as Sherlock groaned softly and at that moment they both knew that all their feelings were about to combust and burst into flame.**

**"****Sherlock . . . Sherlock . . ." Joan moaned as Sherlock's lips found her open mouth in a kiss that neither of them would ever forget, a kiss that became immediately passionate, a frantic consuming kiss that neither of them wanted to ever end as they tasted each other's mouths for the first time.**

**"****Oh, God, Joan, I fear that things are getting out of hand. Joan . . . Joan," Sherlock gasped, the man who always refrained from kissing, intoxicated with the taste of Joan's mouth.**

**But they continued to kiss and the kiss deepened into the wild impassioned kiss of lovers long denied as they literally drank thirstily from one another's lips. As the kiss went on, Sherlock pulled her pony tail loose so that he could catch his hands into her long hair as it fell down onto her shoulders. Joan put her hands inside his soft old sweater into the thick mat of russet****-colored hair that adorned his muscular chest and when she felt his ****heart pounding for her, she pressed her hand there and moaned his name softly.**

**"Oh, Sherlock . . . Sherlock," Joan gasped helplessly for breath.**

**"****I think . . . I think that we should try to restrain ourselves, Joan. Forgive me, I . . . I dare not take advantage of you," Sherlock murmured as he tried to ****catch his breath from the kiss and from the effect of her hands touching the bare skin of his chest.**

**"****Please do take advantage of me, Sherlock."**

**"****You were with my brother. I must . . . I'm trying to observe . . . boundaries. I, I want to but I shouldn't . . don't dare touch you this way." Sherlock was kissing Joan all over her face and his hands were shaking as he spoke.**

**"****Your brother has declared himself dead. Even if he had not done so I must let you know how I feel. You had a right to know why I went with Mycroft."**

**"****I did not need to know that from you. I forgive you, Joan. I have already forgiven you . . . for everything! Will you forgive me for all my crassness, my insensitivity, my failing to come to terms with what we had become to each other?"**

**"Sherlock . . . look at me. . ."**

**Joan let her robe fall completely open. She was naked under it and Sherlock stared at her absorbing every aspect of her beauty, his pupils taking up almost all of the bright blue-green irises of his eyes as he stared at breasts that mesmerized him completely, his nostrils dilating wide open as he became lost in the desire for her that was consuming him. And then it was suddenly all over when Sherlock pushed the fabric of her woolen robe aside to caress her soft skin, touching her with his slender fingers, whispering to her all the words he had kept carefully locked in his heart for the two years that they had been together. **

**"Joan, you are so . . . lovely . . . so lovely, beautiful . . . occupying all my passionate thoughts . . . I have wanted to touch you this way . . . for so long . . . my lovely, lovely honeybee . . . Joan . . ."**

**Sherlock was a consummate lover, his long sensitive fingers roving over Joan's torso, getting to know her flesh, kissing her all over her face and neck and then her breasts, talking to her constantly as he allowed all ohis feelings come out for her in his stream of passionate words.**

**"Your beautiful breasts, dear Joan. I do love them so."****Joan gasped softly as his thumbs gently brushed her nipples and then drifted ****downward. ****When finally his fingertips lightly grazed her thighs, Joan moaned.**

**"****Yes . . . Sherlock! Yes!"**

**Sherlock bowed his head as he carefully covered the lush point of juncture where her thighs met with his hand.**

**"I do not take this part of you as something common or ordinary, Joan . . . but I cannot resist you like this. I cannot help myself, Joan."**

**Joan took his hand from where it was covering her and brought it to her lips. She loosened his shirt and then his trousers and somehow they were about to come together on the dark burgundy velvet pillows of their sofa as he crouched above her, hungrily kissing her neck and cheeks and breasts again and again. But then Sherlock stopped kissing her, gently picked her up in his arms and carried her to his bedroom nearby and laid her on his bed. He crouched over her and looked into her eyes, but did not go further. His hands trembled when he reached out to touch her again.**

**"****I have to be sure that you really want this, Joan. I do not know if I will survive heartbreak again. You have been through a great deal of trauma and I dare not allow you to take a precipitous action that you and I would regret later. I do love you . . . too much to risk heartbreak as the result of an emotional moment such as this. Please do not break my heart, Joan. I am only just coming to realize what the human heart is capable of in its attachments and I realize how vulnerable my heart is now. My heart is flayed wide open and bleeding for you now. I beg you, Joan. Do not accept me like this if you do not truly wish to be with me."**

**"****Sherlock, please . . . just make love to me."**

** As Joan's ****dark green robe slipped completely off her shoulders, she reached to touch Sherlock intimately.**

**"****Does this belong to me, Sherlock?"**

**"****Yes! Yes! Joan!" Sherlock writhed in ecstasy at her touch, sighing helplessly as he fell back to lie alongside her.**

**The next moment Joan was on top of him taking him inside her, and they both cried out as they joined. It was unlike anything that either of them had ever experienced sexually as they found their rhythm. They were perfectly matched. It was like their meeting of minds intellectually. They were like a hand in glove, both of them so intense, so vocal in their expression and response, so without inhibition. The chemistry between them came to full expression when Sherlock growled like a wild man and suddenly turned Joan onto her back and claimed her as his own woman with a fierceness and power that took Joan's breath away. Joan cried out and sobbed for joy as she saw stars when she found release f****or the first time in his arms, but that was only the beginning as Sherlock brought her to the pinnacle again and again.**

**"Sherlock . . . Yes! Oh, yes!"**

**"****Joan . . . Joan . . . Oh God! Joan . . . Luv!"**

**The endearment that was in his heart for so long had escaped his lips for the first time, as he groaned her name over and over.**

**"Sherlock . . . baby!" Joan's hands clenched Sherlock's shoulders in a grip far beyond her normal strength as her body convulsed in his arms in a series of powerful spasms.**

**Sherlock felt the explosion in his flesh that presaged his release and in that very moment his body began to jerk in a series of pelvic spasms so intense that his eyes rolled back into his head. **

**"Joan . . . Joan . . . my . . . Joan! I'm in . . . ecstasy! I . . . I have never experienced anything like this in my life! Oh, dear God!"**

**He cried out her name as his brain was flooded with sprites and flashes of brilliant blue light, till he finally collapsed in Joan's arms. **

**"****Sherlock, I love you. I do love you," Joan whispered when she finally could catch her breath.**

**She was crying softly and Sherlock just held her close smoothing her long hair and kissing her tenderly, both of them trembling as they held each other, at long last sated.**

**"****Don't cry, luv. It will be all right. We will survive this. ****I could have lost you in that debacle between Mycroft and Le Milieu. I could have missed . . . everything. I was . . . ****so foolish."**

**"I love you, Sherlock, in every way that it is possible to love someone. I do . . . do love you more than anyone in the whole world and I will never stop loving you. I have never said those words to anyone else. Oh, Sherlock, help me!"**

**"****Shhh . . . luv. You have been through a lot. I will be here with you. I will always be here."**

**"Sherlock . . . please . . . I can't stop trembling . . ."**

**Sherlock caught her up to his heart, crying softly as he told her over and over how much he loved her and they soon found themselves totally involved again, as Sherlock tenderly took care of her passionate need, marshaling his passions so that Joan had the time she needed to receive to find full satisfaction in the connection and only allowing his own passions to take over again when Joan was shaking and vibrating in the climax. Joan surrendered herself so completely to his ministrations that she was left clinging to Sherlock, helpless, all her vulnerabilities there, trusting him as she had never trusted any man.**

**Joan gradually fell asleep on Sherlock's chest, but Sherlock lay awake, as he contemplated the day's turn of events. His heart was so full and his eyes continued to spill over with tears that he could not hold back. He felt no resentment whatsoever in himself toward Joan. He blamed himself for not realizing that Joan loved him as much as he loved her. As she lay next to him, he realized that he would never let her wonder again if he loved her. He also realized that his whole way of life had changed in one night. There would be no more seeking prostitutes to satisfy his urges. That part of his life was over. After being with Joan, he confirmed what he had sensed all along, that there was no one else who could possibly satisfy him. The anhedonia that had plagued him was gone. The pleasure he had experienced was beyond and more intense than any sexual event in his life. Sherlock Holmes had finally discovered the mystery of true sexual communion. All his sexual focus was concentrated ****on one person and that person was the woman that lay upon his chest in his bed now.**

**As Sherlock lay with Joan in his arms, he was suddenly aware of Joan's sleep being disturbed by a nightmare. She was moaning, sobbing in her sleep, calling his name in the dark.**

**"Sherlock, help me! I'm scared . . . Sherlock . . . scared"**

**Sherlock held her tight, whispering to her, trying to sooth her and gently waken her from her bad dream.**

**"It's all right, luv. . . all right. I'm here and I'll take care of you. It's over . . . all over, luv."**

**Joan wakened trembling and clung to Sherlock as he held her. Sherlock kissed ****her all over her face again and again, gradually calming her and then his lips found her mouth. The ****passionate kisses took them over and they found themselves connecting again, unable to quell the powerful emotions surging in them, naturally rocking in the timeless rhythm of lovers, finding and giving comfort to each other, racing to the summit again and then crying out at the exquisite beauty of what they were experiencing.**

**"Dear Joan. . . My dearest Joan . . ."**

**"Yes, Sherlock, yes! Please hold me!"**

**The next morning Sherlock wakened with Joan sleeping on his chest and realized that the events of the previous evening had not just been a passionate dream. He and Joan had declared themselves over and over to each other. He sighed happily as he buried his face in her fragrant hair.**

**"Joan, luv," he whispered in her ear, kissing and then gently tugging on her dainty ear lobe with his teeth.**

**Joan turned to face him and put her hands on his scruffy cheeks and rubbed her thumb upon his finely sculptured lips.**

**"It is so strange," Joan said, "and yet this seems to be where I have been heading all my life . . . you and me . . . like this. Did you imagine it, Sherlock?"**

**"I confess that it has crossed my mind . . . many times, so many times, but, Joan, my dear Joan, what we shared was the most intense sexual experience of my entire life. The pleasure was . . . exquisite, darling. Was it so for you as well?"**

**Joan flushed in Sherlock's arms, unable to speak as she looked into his eyes and saw everything that she had ever wanted in a man. She smiled, catching her lower lip with her teeth, and Sherlock was lost.**

**"My darling Joan, my darling Joan!"**

**The next instant they were clinging to each other as the passions that had swept them the previous evening claimed them again.**

**It was hours later when they dragged themselves from bed. They were both calm ****and very mellow as they sat close together on the sofa drinking tea. It was as if the episode with Mycroft had never happened. They each knew that they belonged to one another now.**

**"You do know that I spoke with Sir James Walter yesterday."**

**"Yes, and how did that go?"**

**"He asked me to do some work for MI6 and I told him that I would seriously consider it."**

**"Why, Sherlock?"**

**"I guess it's a kind of penance. Mycroft told you that I mishandled the matter of Sedoma Hann involving them. I do not believe that to be the case, but I must prove it just the same. I do not know exactly how, but I must get inside MI6 to find out what actually transpired. I realize that I was using at that time, but that I know the reason that I did that job and I must revisit that matter. I must prove certain matters for myself and for you as well. Sir Walter wants my take on a situation down in Bogota. I will need to go down there for a few weeks."**

**"Sherlock, please don't tell me you are going away . . . now, when we have just resolved these things between us."**

**Joan's eyes filled with tears now as anticipated losing Sherlock. She reached out to touch him, gripping his arm.**

**"I will be away no longer than a couple weeks. I don't want to be away from you for a moment now, but, at the same time, I think I owe it to you to give you some space so that you can be sure . . . of what has happened here between us."**

**"I am sure, Sherlock. Aren't you sure?"**

**Sherlock smiled that tender lop-sided smile that Joan loved so and hugged her, drawing her onto him and pulling her legs up with one hand as he found her lips in kiss after kiss that left no doubt in Joan's mind about his feelings for her.**

**"I know that I am sure, Joan, but we have struggled too much to get to this point to risk your not being absolutely certain that I am what you want. I think that this time may help you to be sure, Joan. It will cause me much suffering, being away from you. Now all I can think about is the sound of your voice saying my name in that moment, or the way your eyelids flutter when you are going over the top, or the warmth of your bare skin when it is up against mine, or that lovely secret garden that you allowed me to visit and the beautiful coral cavern hidden there." Sherlock sighed deeply. "'The light that lies in 'woman's' eyes has been my own undoing.'"**

**Joan flushed deeply at Sherlock's complete and poetic description of her in this moment.**

**"I will wait for you till you return from this assignment. When do you have to leave me?"**

**"Unfortunately my flight is this evening. I go to Bogota. That is all I am free to say. Believe me I do not want to leave you here now, but I have to do this, my dear Joan. I gave Sir Walter my word. Of course I could not have anticipated what has happened to us now. I cannot bear the thought that we will be apart, Joan."**

**Joan buried her head into his chest and began to cry.**

**"Luv, please don't weep for us. We will be fine. I believe that with all my heart. Will you help me pack my gear for the trip?"**

**Joan nodded and gave Sherlock one more kiss before reluctantly slipping from his lap and starting to help him pack.**

**"Joan, please, give me one of your scarves to take along, perhaps that soft cashmere one with the pink roses on it. I need something of yours. . . something with your marvelous scent . . . for the lonely times."**

**It seemed such a familiar thing to handle his shirts and underthings; (Joan often did their laundry together), and yet it meant even more now that they had been together. As she lifted one of his shirts to her face and inhaled Sherlock's familiar personal scent, she recalled their coming together and she realized how different things had become between them in just the past twenty-four hours. She knew that he was hers and the thought overwhelmed her and she began double over and to sink down to her knees.**

**Sherlock was watching her carefully folding his things and saw her become overcome. He suddenly crossed the room and drew her up from her knees and caught her up in his arms and kissed her hungrily, gripping her hips, squeezing them, pulling her up against his pelvis as he growled and groaned for her. **

**"I know. I don't want to leave. I need you, Joan."**

**"Please hold me and love me again."**

**"Yes, Joan! Yes!"**

**Joan's knees buckled completely under her at this point and she started to sink to the floor, but Sherlock caught her, picked her up and carried her off to bed, stripped her robe off, pushed her legs apart and made love to her one more time. This time they both wept the whole time they made love.**

**When he was gone, Joan crawled back into Sherlock's bed, hugging his pillow, breathing in the scent of him, wanting only him, crying her heart out.**

**"I miss you already, my darling Sherlock. Oh, dear God . . . Dear God."**


	2. Chapter 2 Joan and Sherlock

**Joan and Sherlock, Chapter two**

**Word count 6,690**

**By phaedraphelan **

Summary: It seems that everyone wants to write a pregnancy piece so here is a version. In this piece there is a conscious decision on the part of our characters to let this happen. We are dealing with two adults who have successfully avoided this consequence in their lives up until this point. Now they want something different. Feel free to comment on this. We will see what really happens in October.

Disclaimer: Elementary is the artistic property of CBS and no infringement is intended.

**Sherlock lay in bed in his cheap hotel room in Bogota and found himself in the depths of loneliness. He realized as soon as he left New York that it was a mistake on his part to do so. He knew that he cared for Joan more than any other person, but he had not anticipated the pain of physical separation after being with her sexually for just a short time. He was in physical agony for her as he had never experienced for any woman. He wanted to smell her, to taste her.**

**At first he had simply been hurt, saddened at the fact of her lying down with Mycroft, but now he realized that the trauma she experienced had made her irresponsible for her actions. He would not hold her accountable for Mycroft. It was Mycroft himself who had taken advantage of her in her moment of irrational fear, misled her about his reasons for collaborating with Le Milieu to make himself seem genuinely interested in protecting Sherlock, and then walked out of her life after satisfying himself that there was nothing that Sherlock had that he could not take if he wished to take it from him. But now Sherlock writhed on his bed as his need overwhelmed him and he groaned helplessly as memories of being with Joan took over and possessed him. The pleasure had been so all-consuming between them, and each time they had come together it was more intense than the time before.**

**"Oh, God, I need my Joan," he cried out into the darkness. "Please, God help me!" **

**As he suffered the absence of Joan, the man who had never professed to believe found himself calling on the higher power whose existence he had never acknowledged. ****And this was nothing a tryst with a prostitute would help. He needed to see Joan, to touch her, to hear her voice, to inhale the scent of her, to watch her keen mind sort and understand him as no one else could. He had found his mate, his peer. He finally realized that fact. The need he felt for Joan in his life was unlike anything he had ever experienced in his life. And it was more than a simple lust that could be satisfied by a single session of passionate lovemaking. The physical need was there, but it was layered onto what was more than just fleshly need. Theirs was a spiritual connection, an intellectual bond, an interdependence that allowed him to expose the nakedness of his personality to Joan with no fear, no sense that she would ridicule him for his weaknesses, his frailties. Now he felt what was a literal ache in the pit of his belly, in his gonads, a craving that could only be assuaged by touching and seeing Joan. He was in such a constant state of arousal that he was in agony. He wrapped himself in Joan's scarf so that he could smell her and remember being close to her as he groaned her name over and over in the loneliness of his bed.**

**After he had suffered every night for nearly two weeks, he went to his laptop and sent an esoteric message to Watson.**

**"Euglassia Watsonia, I need you and I miss you desperately. I love you so much."**

**At home in New York Joan Watson had just sat down at her computer in the brownstone. She was still somewhat shaken from her experiences-her kidnapping, her brief fruitless liaison with Mycroft and the chain of events that had resulted in Mycroft's elaborate staging of his own death and Sherlock taking on work for MI 6. She knew that the message was from Sherlock.**

**More than anything else she finally realized that Mycroft had taken advantage of her, that he had mainly wanted her only because she was the one closest to Sherlock and she was left feeling incredibly used and cheapened by the whole experience. For the first time in her adult life she realized that having intercourse was not something that she could view as casually as she had in the past. **

**Now Joan deeply regretted ever opening her legs to Mycroft. He deliberately came after her because he knew that Sherlock was in love with her. The challenge had printed itself and Mycroft had been unable to resist it. She realized that both she and Sherlock had been denying for too long what existed between them, that there was no one else who could calm that ache inside them. Having sex with Mycroft did not calm Joan's ache, her need. It was as powerful as ever after that act and was not calmed till she and Sherlock came together.**

**She realized that she had never really known Mycroft. Even having intercourse with him did not reveal his inmost self to her, but had simply seemed to be an opportunity for physical release for him, a opportunity to demonstrate his considerable sexual prowess. She remembered his words to her when she was in his bed.**

**"****_You must know that I find you incredibly beautiful, Joan. I know that you are fond of Sherlock, but may I ask you a question? Do you love him?"_**

_**"Do I love him?"**_

_**"As a man . . . do you love him?"**_

_**"I have not allowed myself to explore my feelings for him in that direction."**_

_**"Do you find him attractive?"**_

_**"Yes . . . he is attractive. But I fight to keep my objective point of view."**_

_**"Do you feel that he maintains his objectivity where you are concerned?"**_

_**"Why are you asking this now, Mycroft?"**_

_**"Because I think you want him actually and that I am a substitute of sorts. But I don't mind taking his place." Mycroft chuckled wickedly as he drew Joan into his embrace.**_

**Joan sat shaking her head as she reflected on the way Mycroft had injected himself into her life and Sherlock's life and literally taken her from him. Despite his sexual technique he was no comparison to Sherlock. When Sherlock made love to her, he became at times like a wild stallion completely caught up in his passions, but then at other times he was incredibly tender, touching her in places she had never been touched by anyone, titillating her so skillfully that she was brought to the heights of sexual fulfillment nonstop again and again till she was sobbing for joy. ****And Joan had experienced something in his arms that she could never have imagined. When Sherlock brought her to the heights of ecstasy again and again, he had awakened in her something that she had never experienced with anyone as she lost every inhibition and cried out in complete surrender his arms. There was nothing hidden, nothing held back when Sherlock gave himself to her, when he sobbed as those blue and white lights exploded in his brain and their flesh and spirit united as one. Now Joan finally lay trembling, tears slipping down her face as the reality of what she had nearly lost came fully home to her. She was miserable without Sherlock. She lay in his bed wrapped in his sheets inhaling the scent of him and wept.**

**The next week an e-mail came into her mailbox, an advertisement for a hotel in Bogota. There was no message but Joan knew. She made a reservation for Bogota for the next day and then called Alfredo and asked him to watch the brownstone for a few days.**

**"I have to go to Bogota, Alfredo. I have to."**

**"Where you goin, Joan? Goin to see your man?" He smiled.**

**"Alfredo . . . Please. Don't say anything to anyone."**

**"You know your secret's safe with me."**

**"And how . . . how did you know?"**

**"Girl, the two of you-that's a story just waitin' to be told. He's always been in love with you. He was so tore up when he thought he'd lost you to his brother."**

**"He spoke with you . . . about . . . it?"**

**"He said that his brother always tried to take anything that belonged to him. He said that was why Mycroft was . . . after your. . . your, excuse the expression, behind. Sherlock is in love with you. You know that, don't you?"**

**Joan flushed and tears flooded her eyes as Alfredo recounted his conversation with Sherlock.**

**"Alfredo, I tried to keep from falling in love with him, but I couldn't help myself. I wanted to be with him in the worst way. Why couldn't I just be his friend?"**

**"Listen, girl, this platonic stuff don't mean 'jack' when you got the kind of chemistry you and Sherlock have. Know what I mean? He was tore up. He cried like a baby, Joan, when he thought he had lost you."**

**The next morning Joan was on a plane to Bogota and that evening found her getting out of a taxi in front of the hotel from the brochure she had seen in her e-mail. **

**Joan registered at the desk and then turned to survey the modest lobby area and chatted up the receptionist who spoke excellent English.**

**"I'm supposed to meet a friend here while I'm in town. He's a Brit, tall, ruddy complexion, may be wearing a beard."**

**"Oh, you're lookin' the guy in Room 559 on the top floor. Want me to call him for you?"**

**"No, I want to surprise him. We're old friends. Muchas gracias!"**

**Joan went along to her room and showered and changed clothes, putting on a tank top and a simple skirt that she knew showed off her legs to advantage. She was extremely nervous as she anticipated seeing Sherlock again. She picked up the room-to-room phone and dialed Room 559. **

**"Yes," Sherlock answered tersely, thinking it was perhaps his handler contacting him.**

**"It's me. I'm here, Sherlock, Room 559," she said and hung up.**

**Sherlock's heart skipped a beat at the sound of Joan's voice. He put the phone down and stood looking at himself in the mirror for a long moment before going into the bathroom. He stripped and stepped into the shower and quickly cleaned up. He was hot and sweaty from the tropical heat and did not want to offend her sensibilities in any way. He put on fresh clothes and left his room to meet Joan.**

**Joan heard the soft knock on her door and ran to open it to Sherlock. At the sight of Joan, he quickly drew her inside and shut the door behind them and locked it. They stood staring at each other for a long moment and then Sherlock caught Joan up in his arms. Sherlock hugged Joan and then he kissed her, at first tentatively, then tenderly, his hands clasping both her cheeks. He stared at Joan, searching all the features of her face as if he could hardly believe that she had come to him. But then Sherlock pushed Joan up against the door that he had just closed as his passions ran rampant and he hungrily kissed her again and again.**

**"Oh, dear God, I missed you, Joan. I missed you so much."**

**Sherlock continued to kiss Joan all over her face and Joan was crying and his own eyes spilled over as his hands caressed her and held her. Sherlock picked her up in his arms and carried her to the bed, laid her down on it and crouched over her. He gratefully breathed the scent of her into his nostrils, as he gently pulled up her top so that he could get to softness of her breasts and bury his face in the fullness there. **

**"I had to come to you, Sherlock. I want to be in your orbit. I need to breathe you in on every single day ****of my life. I was so foolish to fall for Mycroft, not realizing that the reason he wanted me was mainly because I was with you. I am here now to . . . to be with you, Sherlock. I belong to you. There is absolutely no question in my mind. Alfredo said I was coming to be with my man. Was he right? You said that you are my man. Are you, Sherlock?"**

**"Dear God, yes! Yes! I cried for you, Joan. When I thought that I had lost you, I cried like a baby, luv!"**

**They caressed each other, murmuring endearments to each other as they pulled off each others clothes so that they could touch each other, moaning softly as they responded to each touch, each point of physical contact.**

**"I have missed the scent of you so, Sherlock," Joan murmured as she put her face into the thickness of his underarm hair and inhaled his the scent of his sweat that she had missed so much. "I have missed living in your orbit. . . seeing you and smelling you, being with you."**

**They lay staring at each other taking in all of each other, their faces flushed with arousal and need.**

**Sherlock lay back as Joan rubbed his hard muscled belly and began to stroke him. The pleasure she gave Sherlock at that moment of touching him was so intense that he cried out and clenched his teeth in agony, trembling all over. Then he growled and pushed Joan onto her back and began to kiss her all over her body with increasing intensity till he snorted loudly gasping her name, as he buried his face between her breasts. He was trembling helplessly, groaning his need.**

**"Please, Joan! Oh, please, woman! I need you to take me and hold me inside you again. I need you so! I've been in agony down here without you."**

**"Yes, Sherlock, yes!" Joan wailed to him, moaning his name in ecstasy.**

**Sherlock caressed her thighs, kissing them and lightly nipping the tender skin there as he at the same time tried in vain to hold back the hunger for her that he had held in restraint for so long.**

**Sherlock continued to gasp and groan as he buried his face there, inhaling her rich heady scent, continuing to kiss her inner thighs as he approached her most intimate place till Joan caught his hands in hers and stopped him before ****he could go farther. Joan drew him up to look into his eyes. She had to speak to him.**

**"Sherlock, I had my period last week."**

**"I remembered that you were due. I hope that you didn't suffer too much, luv."**

**"I would have appreciated your massaging my feet and making my special tea. You are the only man who knows me this well. But Sherlock, I did not resume taking the pill. I don't know where that puts me in my cycle now, but, for the first time in my life, it is of no consequence to me. If you want to use a condom, that is your decision to make."**

**"Joan, I am no dry tree like my brother. No vasectomy, no chemo after-effects, just a man with testicles that feel like they will burst and the most powerful urges toward you. I **_**must **_**use a condom to protect you."**

**"I want you to spill inside of me. I want all of you. If you make me pregnant, I will gladly carry for you, Sherlock. I want to be pregnant for you."**

**"My darling Joan, I am yours to do with as you wish . . . my flesh . . . all that I am or ever will be."**

**Sherlock caught Joan up to his chest and kissed her passionately, mounting her to take her. Joan welcomed him and at the moment they joined, they both gasped and cried out loud. He came into her as if he were coming home, as he had dreamed about so many of the nights of separation, feeling and finding the full depth of her. They easily found their pace and it was perfect between them as they clung together rocking in the timeless rhythm of coitus, perfectly matched, moving in synchrony with each other, crying out to each other as they climbed to the crest together. Joan fluttered like a butterfly in Sherlock's arms, moaning and gasping his name, as Sherlock took her. ****Sherlock's stamina knew no bounds, finally giving Joan what she had been in such dire need of for so long. When Sherlock saw her going over the top for the third time, he could hold back no longer and he snorted passionately, grunting as his parts seemed to explode, his pelvis jerking in spasms spurting his semen as Joan capitulated, melting in his arms. ****They were both seeing stars bursting in their brains as the climax surged over them and then left them gasping and panting in its wake.**

**"Joan! Joan! Each spasm . . . like one of the . . . the double stops in the Bach Chaconne! Oh, dear God!"**

**"Yes . . . Sherlock . . . baby . . . yes . . . Sherlock, I love you."**

**They kissed tenderly as the afterglow settled down on them. They were dripping with perspiration, sweating together in the tropical heat, feeling the wonder of the perfect joining they had experienced. Sherlock talked to her all the while through their mating, telling Joan his feelings for her, his longing, his consuming need, becoming a true poet in her arms. When Sherlock finally sobbed, overcome completely by his emotions, Joan sighed his name and melted in his embrace, hardly able to hold on to him, her arms weak from the intensity of the climax. As Joan cradled him tenderly, his head upon her breasts, Sherlock's body still continued to vibrate as he cuddled against hers.**

**"Sherlock . . . please . . . again. Please, Sherlock," Joan whispered as she held him in her arms. **

**"You don't have to ask, luv. Just touch me and kiss me the way you are doing." **

**They made love again and again till exhaustion eventually overcame them both.**

**It was dark when they wakened in each other's arms. **

**"Joan, luv . . . Thank you for coming to me. I hope I did not exhaust you."**

**"Umm, Sherlock, I love you . . . love you so."**

**"Let's get into the shower together and cool off. The heat here is wicked."**

**As they stood under the tepid water together, their passions became heated again and Sherlock took Joan again right there and then carried her back to bed. They could not stop making love for more than an hour or so before they were at it again till their bodies were finally so sore and they were so hungry that they had to leave the hotel and find a restaurant where they filled themselves up on some of the best local cuisine. Then they went back to the hotel and lay down together again, unable get enough of each other.**

**"I don't want you to leave, Joan. I need you to be with me, but it is too dangerous here for you here. Please, don't let me be selfish, luv. I shall have to send you home."**

**"Then we will have to do this all night, baby, and all day tomorrow before I go back to New York."**

**Joan had never been with a man like Sherlock. He was completely different from Mycroft. His technique as a lover was amazing; his knowledge of lovemaking was like all of his knowledge without compare. But with Joan it was not just technique. He had never been with a woman that he loved so deeply, so completely. He ****was so impassioned, and then there were his words, talking to her constantly, telling her all the things in his heart and the sounds he made when making love, the snorting and growling when he was lost in his passions. There was no end to his sensual energy and stamina and he proved it, making love to her again and again before it was time for Joan to leave Bogota.**

**Two days later Joan flew back to New York, calm and satisfied in her heart and in her flesh. She was met at the airport by Alfredo and he smiled when he saw her so flushed and so obviously happy.**

**"What?" Joan asked him when he smiled at her in such a knowing way.**

**"You just look like a little ole settin' hen, girl. I think Sherlock's done fixed you up."**

**"I hope he did. I love him, Alfredo. I'm going to move completely back into the brownstone and wait till he comes home to me."**

**Joan gave up the month-to-month lease on her apartment and moved completely back into Sherlock's brownstone. She was content, and when she missed her second period, she knew that she was pregnant. She sent Sherlock a coded e-mail that contained a negative of an ultrasound of an tiny infant in utero.**

** In Bogota, Sherlock saw the negative and he knew that Joan was pregnant and that he had sired the child in her womb. He contacted MI 6 and told his handlers that he could no longer be in South America because of family concerns. Then he got on the next flight to New York. It had been eight weeks since he and Joan had been together. He had been faithful to her even though he had suffered countless sleepless nights, tossing and turning in the tropical heat, in such dire need of Joan that he was in agony. He had cried out for Joan every night as he lay in his bed alone, suffering with the need in his flesh, but he never sought relief with any of the local prostitutes. He knew that that part of his life was now over. He belonged to Joan.**

**A week later as Joan lay in her bed in the brownstone in the early morning she heard familiar footsteps on the stairs. The door opened, and Sherlock came into her bedroom, bent over her bed, caught her up into his arms and kissed her passionately. Just the familiar woodsy scent of him caused her heart to leap in response.**

**"I took the red eye from Bogota. I could not stay away from you. It was a mistake to ever leave you here alone. I need to be here with you, Joan."**

**"Oh, Sherlock . . . Sherlock," Joan gasped as he kissed her again, slipping out of his trousers and then lying down in bed with her, pulling her white chenille bedspread back and then lifting up the nightshirt she was wearing so that he could touch her once again.**

**"I missed you, Joan. I missed you in my bed. I love you . . . so much. Look at you, luv! Look at your breasts, luv! They're so swollen and beautiful."**

**"I guess this is what early pregnancy looks like."**

**"How are you feeling, luv?"**

**"Some morning sickness, but not too much now. I think you may have missed the worst part of it, but it isn't completely done."**

** "I missed you so much after you left Bogota. I . . . I couldn't sleep. And when I realized that you were pregnant with our child! I am truly thrilled, Joan. I am so overwhelmed at the prospect. Our weekend in Bogota bore fruit, didn't it, luv? Our fruit." **

**Sherlock caressed Joan's belly and breasts and then fell upon her with such ardor, such fervent expressions of passion that he began to sob upon her. He plumbed the depths of her mouth, possessing it completely and then they came together again as he gave himself to Joan with abandon till she dissolved in his arms, her brain bombarded with brilliant blue and white flashes of light.**

**"God! Joan! Joan," he cried out, his whole body seizing in spasms, as he shook and trembled on top of her. "I'm home, luv. I'm home!"**

**Joan moaned softly as her passions slowly ebbed and she felt warmth and contentment permeate her flesh as she held him in her arms.**

**"Sherlock, Sherlock, baby, I did miss you so much."**

**"I knew the moment that you left Bogota that I would be even more miserable than before. After we came together again, there was no dialing back my desire for you. I need you, Joan. I ached so for you." Sherlock drew her hand to where he craved her touch. "Will you take care of this ache for me for the rest of my life, Joan? This belongs to you now and to no one else."**

**"Yes, I will take care of you. I promise you, Sherlock."**

**Sherlock and Joan lay together whispering all the love words that they had saved up in their hearts for each other. Sherlock cradled her, gently suckling her swollen breasts, as Joan fondled and caressed him.**

**"Your breasts are so full, luv. Seeing you pregnant, knowing that you are carrying our little one." **

**He rubbed her belly and then kissed it as Joan ran her hands through his hair and scratched his scalp the way she loved to do.**

**"Have you forgiven me for being with Mycroft?" **

**"Do you want him, Joan?"**

**"I cannot think of any other man but you, Sherlock."**

**"Then we will not ever speak of my brother anymore in the context of you and me. Please believe me when I say that I am only thinking of us."**

**After her brief liaison with Mycroft, the contrast was obvious between the two brothers, and while Joan believed that Mycroft's inability to carry her where she needed to be was less a result of his chemo treatments and more simply an evidence that Mycroft's sexual temperament was completely different from Sherlock's, it was clear to Joan that her love for Sherlock was not misplaced. Furthermore, Mycroft had seemed to be totally enervated by their coupling, only lasting for what to Joan seemed like all too brief a time with Joan left still needing more attention whereas Sherlock's sensual stamina seemed limitless.**

**Sherlock turned his attention to loving Joan again, holding and showering her with kiss after kiss, till they were both carried away again, helpless to release themselves from the powerful emotions that held them in their grip.**

**"Dear God! Dear God! Joan . . . Joan, help me!" Sherlock's teeth clattered as the climax rattled over and through him, till they finally lay exhausted and sated, moaning softly in each other's arms as they floated together in the afterglow.**

**The next morning as they ate breakfast in bed together, Sherlock stated it as a matter of fact.**

**"I'm not going back to Bogota. I'm going to see Sir Walter to tell MI 6 that I am done. I'm staying here. I can't be away from you, Joan. I need to be in your orbit, luv. I cannot endure it when I am away from you." He smiled tenderly at her and bent to kiss her still flat belly where their little one was growing.**

**When he met with Sir Walter later that day, he was ready to take whatever consequences would result from refusing to leave New York.**

**"I have to be here. My life is here now. And, for the record, Sir Walter, I have reviewed my activities involved with Sedoma Hann and will stand by what was done. There was no breach of loyalty, sir, on my part."**

**Sir Walter adjusted himself in his chair somewhat uneasily.**

**"Holmes, I hope you have not concluded that MI6 felt there was any disloyalty on your part. We wanted to have your brother as an asset again and Sharrington decided to use misinformation about your work with Sedoma Hann as leverage to force him back to us. If there were any question as to your loyalty, I would never have asked you to work with us at this point in time."**

**"Was my brother apprised of the fact of my loyalty?"**

**"He was not given that information initially. As for later, I cannot say. Were you given to believe that he continued under that misapprehension****?"**

**"I would say so. Or his disloyalty to me as his brother becomes an even more bitter pill."**

**"Unfortunately Sharrington is no longer here, and if he were still alive, it would be the word of a proved traitor. Sedoma Hann is in deep cover and would be endangered by any efforts to contact him. I am sure you understand."**

**"Absolutely," Sherlock answered. "Case closed."**

**"So you will not be continuing your work with us, Holmes?"**

**"I find it necessary to be here in New York. I have a commitment here that I must honor. If there are matters that can be handled here, I will accept such."**

**"This commitment . . . does it involve your erstwhile partner?"**

**"Yes, Sir Walter, it does," Sherlock answered simply. "We have a history, Sir Walter. I cannot say more."**

**"I understand and wish you well."**

**Sherlock and Joan went into seclusion together at the brownstone for the next two weeks, unable to be apart for even a few hours as they affirmed and confirmed their love for each other. Only Alfredo even knew that Sherlock was back and he wasn't talking to anyone about it.**

**Finally they settled into life again as partners and as so much more. They resumed taking cases with NYPD but made the conscious decision to keep Joan out of the more dangerous situations. At first they did not announce the pregnancy to their friends. Alfredo had sensed it right away and Gregson in his wisdom soon put two and two together and informed Sherlock that he was aware of what was happening. Joan's blooming right in front of them and Sherlock's constant attentiveness to her was all the evidence anyone who knew them really needed. At first they tried to act as if things were as usual, but they couldn't keep their hands off each other and soon everyone realized that something powerful was going on between Sherlock and Joan.**

**Sherlock was happier than he had ever been in his life as a man. Adding the sexual component to all that they already shared only enhanced what they already were. Sherlock was sharper, more possessed of mental clarity than ever. As he lay in bed with Joan each night, he loved to kiss her belly as it began to show its slightest roundness, delighting in every single aspect of her pregnancy.**

**When Joan was in the middle of her third month, they were quite surprised to reach home and find a sleek black limousine parked in front. A tall very spare older version of Sherlock stepped from the car.**

**"Father, what a surprise," Sherlock stated somewhat wryly.**

**"Mr. Holmes, it is a pleasure to finally meet you," Joan said with a slight bow of her head, instantly recognizing this man as the patriarch of Sherlock's family.**

**"A pleasure to me as well."**

**Sherlock led the way into the house and Joan quickly set about making tea.**

**"I must say that I am very pleased that your life has evened out so well. With the recent loss of Mycroft I am thankful that I still have you, Sherlock."**

**"Thank you, father. The loss of my brother was . . . unfortunate." Sherlock did not comment further.**

**"I find myself with a chain of high end restaurants to run as a consequence. Do you have an interest in them?"**

**"None whatsoever, father."**

**"I felt that would be your response. I will just have to place them under one of my corporations."**

**Joan approached and served tea, bowing and presenting the cup with both hands to Sherlock's father and then serving Sherlock in the same manner.**

**"Miss Watson, I must say that I have wanted to express my appreciation for your work with Sherlock. I wanted to give you this monetary expression."**

**The older Holmes drew a check from his breast pocket and handed it to Joan.**

**"Sir, this is not necessary," Joan said as she saw that the check was for ten thousand dollars.**

**"Yes, it is. With the recent tragic situation in regard to Mycroft I felt that it would be good to reconnect with my youngest son, and it is you who have made that possible, Miss Watson."**

**"Actually Watson . . . Joan and I have a personal relationship now. I love her deeply. We actually plan to be married two weeks hence."**

**Sherlock's father carefully looked Joan up and down, analyzing her and taking all of her in with his clear blue eyes. Then he smiled with the wisdom of an old man who had not forgotten what it was like to feel the passions of a younger man.**

**"That pleases me immeasurably, Sherlock. Miss Watson. . . Joan is quite lovely and obviously quite brilliant. She also appears to be capable of producing issue. That would be a grand thing. I will certainly plan to be there."**

**Sherlock simply smiled at Joan and took her hand in his.**

**"This place could use some renovations, Sherlock . . . an extra bathroom, some other updates. Make a few sketches and I will have my man come by and pick them up. We will get it done."**

**While Sherlock and Joan stood gobsmacked by the whole event, the older Holmes got up and took his leave of them both.**

**"That is my father, Joan, in the flesh. You absolutely charmed him, especially when you served him tea in that way that you do."**

**"Are you sure. I felt like livestock being appraised. And you didn't tell him that I am pregnant for you. I realized that I am carrying his grandchild in my belly and I felt that I had to show my respect for him."**

**"He will find out about the pregnancy in due time, luv. In the meantime let him be charmed by you as I have been."**

**Sherlock drew Joan into his embrace, kissed her over and over and then when their kisses became the kisses of passionate need between them, he picked Joan up in his arms and carried her off to bed.**

**When Joan was just past four months along, they got married by a judge who was a friend of Sherlock in a Saturday morning ceremony in the Japanese pavilion in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Joan's parents and brother Oren were there. Sherlock's father was there as well. Joan's friends Emily and Fran were there. Joan was lovely in a creamy silk and lace empire style wedding dress that completely disguised her pregnancy and Sherlock was resplendent in his formal black morning coat. Gregson stood up with Sherlock as his best man.**

**Everyone was touched at the sound of Sherlock's voice breaking as he stated his vows, the sight of his eyes brimming as he held Joan's hand in his. And there was no doubt of Joan's love as she looked at him with her dark eyes full of her adoration for him.**

**All went to a small restaurant reception afterwards. As they danced together, Sherlock's face flushed as he held Joan close to his heart. When Joan felt his flesh rising in excitement against her as they danced slowly close together, she flushed as well.**

**"Oh dear Sherlock, what are we to do with ourselves?"**

**"Please, luv, I need you so. I'm about to be undone here. Please just let's slip away to our honeymoon cottage in the woods up at Lake ****Placid and take care of each other. No one will miss us here. Alfredo has a car outside with our bags inside. He will drive us up and come back for us in a week."**

**As they danced slowly together, Sherlock bent his head to kiss Joan tenderly once, twice, and then a third time. **

**"I just must take leave of my mother and you must take leave of your father and then we can slip out."**

**Joan caught her mother's eyes. She had been watching them closely all during the events of the day.**

**"Darling Joan, you and your Sherlock have all my best wishes." Then she leaned into whisper her next words to her daughter. "You are carrying so beautifully for Sherlock."**

**Joan was taken aback, not realizing that her pregnant state was that obvious.**

**"No, it was not your belly that gave it away, but your radiantly beautiful face. Only pregnancy gives a woman that glow."**

**"Please keep our secret for a few more weeks. Sherlock's father does not know as yet."**

**"Your secret is safe, my dear." **

**The two women hugged warmly and kissed each other before Joan and Sherlock quietly took their leave and let Alfredo take them briefly to the brownstone. **

**As they changed into comfortable traveling clothes it was with great difficulty because they were in such a state of desire for one another. Sherlock became excited for her at just the sight of her in her lacy lingerie with her swollen breasts and just the suggestion of a rounding baby bump. **

**"Joan . . . wife . . . woman, I need you so. Look at you . . . look at what we have done together."**

**Sherlock embraced her and kissed her all over her face and dropped to his knees so that he could embrace her around her belly. He was so flushed, so aroused by Joan that he could hardly speak as Joan ran her fingers through his hair.**

**"It's all right, baby. We will be all right. Alfredo is waiting for us," Joan said as she tried to calm him.**

**"Just hold me, luv. I can't face that trip to Lake Placid without this," Sherlock begged, unzipping his trousers.**

**Sherlock pulled up her skirt and pushed her panties aside and his member found its place inside her despite the fact that they we're fully dressed.**

**"Ooh! Ooh! Sherlock!" Joan flesh quivered in response to his.**

**"Oh, God! Yes, Joan!" Sherlock cried softly as his body quickly went rigid in orgasm.**

**"Just please tell me that you will always love me as I love you this day," Sherlock said! holding her close as they tried to gain control of the situation.**

**"I promise you . . .** **promise you, promise you, my darling Sherlock."**


	3. Chapter 3

**Joan and Sherlock Chapter three**

**6,523 words**

Summary: Joan is pregnant and the term, "Family Business," begins to take on real meaning for both of them. How would it impact their work? How would it affect them personally? How would events of the past year affect them as a married couple?

Disclaimer: Elementary is the property of CBS and no infringement is intended**.**

**Sherlock and Joan quickly settled into their life as a married couple and realized how much their relationship meant to both of them. Sherlock, the man who had led such a lonely life steering clear of close relationships with anyone was suddenly the man who gladly had committed himself to Joan. And this commitment was complete. ****They worked together, played together, argued passionately, and then came together again just as passionately.**

**In addition to everything else as Joan finished her fifth month, she suddenly began to show her pregnancy very obviously and Sherlock was completely enthralled at the sight of her carrying for him. He found it difficult to refrain from touching her, patting her shapely hips, stealing a kiss whenever he could manage to do so.**

**When Joan felt their baby move the first time, Sherlock became beside himself for joy. Late one night they were lying in bed together when Joan felt it the first time.**

**"Sherlock! Our baby . . . moved."**

**She took Sherlock's hand and placed it where the little one was moving.**

**"Dear God! Joan, luv!" Sherlock was overwhelmed and his eyes filled as he embraced Joan's belly, kissing it over and over. "What have we done?"**

**"Sherlock, you make me so happy. I love you . . . so much. I wanted to have this baby for you from the beginning. Did you know that? I knew it deep in my heart . . . that I wanted to carry your baby. You are the only man I ever wanted to have a baby for."**

** Sherlock groaned, "Joan . . . I wanted the same thing . . . from the beginning as well. But I was so afraid of what I was feeling. I fought it so hard . . . but I couldn't win against my feelings. Sometimes I would see you and I would just have to leave the room. My testicles would be so full that I would feel as if my pants were literally going to burst, luv."**

**"Dear Sherlock, you do not need to suffer any more, I love you and will always take care of you."**

**Sherlock and Joan kissed and suddenly they were simply lovers, lost in each other, taking care of the passionate need of each of them.**

**The cases continued to come in, and while they had made the conscious decision to keep Joan from any situation that could endanger her or their unborn child, it seemed that they had even greater clarity when working together on cases.**

**The current case was involving the death of an executive in an internet company. He was found dead of a heroin overdose which made the case all the more poignant for Sherlock.**

**As Sherlock and Joan stood in the luxurious TriBeCa apartment of the victim and assessed the crime scene, they were both impressed with how unlikely the scene was for an overdose case.**

**"There is no evidence of the things one would associate with drug addiction here," Joan said. "His body has no track marks. He was not a user, not even a smoker."**

**Sherlock sighed as he surveyed the crime scene. The victim was naked, still wearing a condom and his hands were locked to the bed posts in a pair of handcuffs. It was a terrible scene to behold the man in such an undignified situation at death.**

**"Cover him up," Gregson said, sensitive to Joan having to see such a thing.**

**"It is evident that he was in the middle of sexual tryst when this happened. We need to look for his partner," Sherlock said.**

**"Let's speak to his wife. She just flew in from Paris and this is what she found. Obviously she was not the subject of his sexual attention," Joan said.**

**"This sounds like a prostitute. Look in his phone and check his contacts for 'dolly mops."**

**"Sherlock, this is the second overdose death in Manhattan in the last month that involved a high profile and unlikely victim. Do you think that there is a correlation?" Gregson queried as they surveyed the crime scene.**

**"We need to check his contacts, captain. We are looking for call girls, escort services, that sort of thing. Joan and I are going home to try to sort some of this out."**

**Sherlock looked tenderly down at Joan and took her hand as they walked away.**

**"You know what I thought when I saw this victim? I thought about how many times I foolishly picked up a woman I did not know for sexual purposes. That victim could have been me, strung up like a holiday goose, my genitalia ****on full display like that. I am so thankful that you are my wife, Joan."**

**Joan squeezed his hand.**

**"I think that we need some private time this afternoon, luv," Sherlock said with that now familiar look of hunger in his eyes. "Let's go home now."**

**When they got back to the brownstone, they turned to each other, kissing fervently as they each pulled each other's clothes off and literally climbed all over each other.**

**"Joan . . . I love you so much. I cannot imagine my life without you. I need to be with you this afternoon. Please take care of me, luv."**

**Joan held him so that he could suckle at her breasts as his hand rubbed her growing belly all around.**

**"You are especially beautiful like this, luv. You know that I find you irresistible in any case, but seeing you advertising to the world your marvelous fecundity just takes my breath away. The fullness in your breasts . . . the way your beautiful aerolae have spread to become like a lovely rosy flower surrounding each nipple. The swelling of your belly as our wee ones presence becomes evident just overwhelms me so."**

**"Oh, Sherlock, yes . . . I need you too, baby. I need you."**

**Sherlock then eased himself onto over her carefully so as not to put pressure on her belly and they came together like that, gasping and panting together as the acme surged over them in spasm after spasm.**

**"Joan! Joan!"**

**"Yes . . . Yes, oh, yes, Sherlock!"**

**Finally they lay quietly kissing tenderly over and over again. Joan's hands were in his hair rubbing his scalp in the manner that Sherlock loved and he sighed contentedly.**

**"Joan, I can hardly imagine my life before you came into it. I do love you, woman."**

**Joan smiled and just hugged Sherlock tightly.**

**"I am so sleepy right now, Sherlock. It must be the pregnancy. Do you mind if I go to bed?"**

**"No, luv," please go to bed. I will come along later. "**

**Sherlock kissed Joan quickly and then watched her get up and go into the bedroom. It was difficult, but Sherlock forced his mind to the case at hand.**

**He reflected on the changes that had taken place in his life since he and Joan had come to terms with their love for each other.**

_**I could never have imagined my life as it is now. I see my wife, my woman, her belly full of the fruits of our love and I can hardly believe my eyes. To think that I brought strange women, prostitutes here to take care of my basic sexual needs. It was all so shallow-coitus without love or real deep feeling of any kind. I could have been a victim just as those blokes that were killed with those heroin overdoses. I know why those fellows took the heroin-wanting to enhance their sexual response-but what was the motive of the prostitute who probably administered the deadly dose. She must have been some sort of psychopath.**_

**Sherlock got up from his desk, went to make a cup of tea and try to deduce the motives for murder in these cases. He then went to his computer and began to research the sites that advertised call girls, some of the highest priced whores in the city. He decided that he and Watson would begin to interview some of these the next day.**

**Now his thoughts turned to his wife sleeping in their bedroom nearby. His needy flesh was still urgently ****demanding attention and finally he got up from the desk and went off to his bed. He needed to be close to Joan so he stripped his clothes off and got into bed with her.**

**Joan moaned softly as his arms embraced her and she felt his warm body up against hers. He was kissing Joan all over her face, moaning her name over and over.**

**"Forgive me for waking you, luv. I . . . I just need you, Joan. Will you please help me . . . comfort me, luv."**

**Joan yielded to his kisses and as he continued to kiss her passionately and took his cheeks in her hands. She never refused Sherlock's passionate advances and she had never felt so loved as when Sherlock embraced her pregnant belly.**

**"I am here for you, Sherlock. I will always be here."**

**"Thank you, Joan. This beast between my legs is so unrelenting in its demand for satisfaction. I am such a carnal man. Forgive me for being so carnal, but I am helpless in the face of my urges when I see you in my bed. Oh, God, I need you, Joan."**

**Joan kissed him, ****her open mouth searching his and Sherlock growled in that terribly masculine way of his and suddenly they were joined again without further ado in the only connection that could calm the need in their flesh that demanded satisfaction.**

**Joan wakened early in the morning and realized that Sherlock was not in their bed but this was not unusual, especially when they were working a difficult case. She went to find Sherlock and he was sitting at his computer drinking a cup of tea.**

**"Are you all right this morning?" Joan ruffled through his hair and hugged him.**

**"Umm, yes, thank you, luv. I'm so glad I have you . . . to be with. Last night was . . . such a special gift. I was in such need. Sometimes all I can think about is you."**

**"I know, baby. I know."**

**Joan hugged his face to the fullness of her breasts again. Joan's pregnancy had given her a special gift in that her dainty lovely breasts had swollen so that they were more than twice their normal size and their drooping teardrop shape entranced Sherlock. **

**"Your breasts are so full that they look like they are ready to burst . . . so beautiful."**

**"My breasts are to bring you pleasure. I love that you want to suckle. I hope that I'm not distracting you."**

**Sherlock tried to bring his thoughts back to the case at hand.**

**"I can't nail this one down, Joan. I've been on this computer since before dawn checking these call girl sites, looking for something that might give us an inkling as to the motive in these cases."**

**Joan hugged Sherlock again and then she stopped short with a quizzical expression her face.**

**"Do you remember that dominatrix, Mistress Felicity? Why not interview her? She might have inside info on some of the stranger compulsions."**

**"Good idea! We will go to find her after breakfast. I hadn't even thought about her in months. You have had me on the straight and narrow, luv."**

**"Do you ever miss that life?"**

**Sherlock shuddered before he responded.**

**"I led a profligate life, Joan. There was nothing good about it. I never knew 'good' till I met you."**

**"Am I good, Sherlock?" **

**Sherlock drew Joan down onto his lap and kissed her tenderly.**

**"Let's get dressed, Joan, and go to work on this before I lose all my desire for anything other than to be in bed with you this morning."**

**They extricated themselves from their embrace with difficulty and prepared for the day.**

**Sherlock and Joan found Mistress Felicity's place of business on one of the side streets off Houston Street on the lower East side.**

**They entered the spare nondescript reception area where an attractive woman wearing all sorts of piercings sat at the desk. After a few minutes she ushered her into a small office where Mistress Felicity sat. She was dressed in a black leather jumpsuit and coal black lipstick decorated her well-shaped mouth. There were around the room all sorts of the tools of her trade and Joan's hair felt as if it was standing on end at the blatant display.**

**"Well, Sherlock, it has been quite a while since I've seen you. And you, Miss Watson. . . " her gaze dropped to Joan's quite evidently pregnant belly that filled and stretched the sweater knit top she wore and her swollen bosom, "are things as they would appear to be?"**

**Sherlock took control of the conversation.**

**"Joan and I are married and we are expecting as well. My life has taken quite a turn. . . all for the best."**

**"Well, I'm happy for both of you. You look great, Joan, and you as well, Sherlock. So I would imagine that you are not here for the usual reasons."**

**"Actually we are working on a case. You may have heard of the two recent murders of businessmen by heroin overdose here in the city. Since neither of these men was a user, and also since handcuffs were found at each scene, we are wondering if you have had anyone recently in your employ who might have inclinations to take things in that direction, someone you may have felt could get too invested in her calling."**

**"You know what I do, Sherlock. My people have specific guidelines designed to protect their clients as well as themselves."**

**"But may you have had to let go someone who had a somewhat different agenda?" Joan asked. "We're looking for someone with a psychotic urge to kill her clients."**

**"I will think about this and I promise to get back to you. My business definitely doesn't need this kind of spotlight on it." She smiled. "Would you wait a moment? I want to give you something, Joan, with my best wishes."**

**She stepped into a back room and returned in a few minutes with an shiny black upscale type shopping bag and gave it to Joan.**

**Sherlock and Joan took their leave and were happy to get back out into the fresh New York air. Mistress Felicity's world no longer held the kind of appeal to Sherlock that it had held in former times. They walked along silently, their thoughts reflecting on a number of things.**

**Joan knew that Sherlock had had intimate knowledge of Miss Felicity in the past, that she had even visited the brownstone on a few occasions to serve Sherlock's needs early on when Sherlock was still regularly served by prostitutes.**

**"That was interesting, Sherlock. You seemed to handle that well."**

**"Ours was a business arrangement, Joan. I'm not in the market for that business any longer. You know that, I'm sure."**

**Sherlock took her hand and stopped in the middle of the street and kissed her hard on her mouth before continuing their walk toward the subway.**

**"Sherlock, this baby is making me so hungry. Can we stop somewhere to eat?"**

**"Sure, luv. How about Katz's Deli? It's near here."**

**"And they have great pickles! I crave sour in the worst way."**

**Soon they were seated at Katz's Deli enjoying sharing a huge pastrami sandwich together along with a plate of their famous crunchy dill pickles which satisfied Joan's craving for sour these days.**

**"So what is in the shopping bag?" Sherlock said, winking at Joan.**

**Joan peered inside and smiled. "Would you believe two pair of handcuffs lined with fleece. They are bright pink!"**

**Joan giggled mischievously.**

**"And what are you planning, luv.?"**

**"Well, maybe you will show me how to use these," Joan teased him. "Since they're pink I guess I'm supposed to use these on you."**

**They stared at each other for a long moment, both of them intensely affected by this conversation in the middle of the busy restaurant.**

**"Well, I know that you are never guilty of faking that big moment, as Meg Ryan so well demonstrated in the movie that made this restaurant famous. We could have saved ourselves a lot of angst if we had followed the lesson of that movie. Billy Crystal had it right when his character said that a man and a woman can't just be friends because the sex gets in the way."**

**"It really got in the way, didn't it?" Joan agreed.**

**Sherlock stared at Joan, distracted from eating by her.**

**"It was in the way from the moment I first saw you."**

**"Are we going to go home and show our appreciation for Felicity's gift?"**

**"Yes, luv. But we need to think on this case before we think about that kind of play. I never sensed that you were interested in that sort of thing."**

**"I want to please you. I know that I'm a vanilla sort of girl, but I'm curious. Perhaps I'm missing something. You can teach me what you want me to do." Joan's dark eyes flashed at him in that way that made his heart skip a best.**

**Sherlock just stared at Joan, obviously aroused at the thought of what she was suggesting and Joan stared back at him, just as aroused.**

**"I think we need to get home, luv."**

**When Sherlock and Joan got back to the brownstone, it was very late in the afternoon and they were glad to be home. Joan set about making a pot of tea for them and Sherlock sat down, trying to sort out the case.**

**"So, Sherlock, what is the fascination with handcuffs. Explain it to me."**

**Sherlock stopped what he was doing and sat back in his chair, his blue eyes twinkling as he reflected on how to respond to Joan.**

**"The point, luv, is to restrain your lover. That ones pleasure is intensified by the restraints. It usually at the least triples the intensity of the pleasure of the act. I would gladly allow you to restrain me, Joan."**

**"Did you enjoy it, Sherlock?"**

**"In a word, yes . . . especially when I was suffering anhedonia. I could hardly feel pleasure, Joan. But now that I regularly feel the most intense pleasures of my life since we came together, you would probably completely blow my mind now if you do that to me." Sherlock winked at Joan and wrapped his arms around her.**

**"I think you need to drink your tea, Sherlock, if we plan to work on the case this evening."**

**"I think I want my woman to play with me," Sherlock said as he drew her down so that he could kiss her on her waiting mouth. "Don't you want to play with me? You've been yanking my chain all afternoon. Hum."**

**Sherlock was kissing Joan all over her neck and cheeks and nibbling her tiny earlobe as he sighed and sighed for her.**

**"Sherlock . . . Sherlock . . . please . . . "**

**Sherlock's eyes took on that languid character that they had when he was extremely aroused and then when Sherlock moaned in her ear, Joan lost control completely of the situation.**

**"Please, Joan, make me suffer just a little today."**

**Joan pulled his shirt off and then his trousers and then gently pushed him toward the chair by the table and down into the chair. She took one pair of the handcuffs and connected his wrist and ankle one one side and then attached the other pair to his other hand and ankle on the other side. When she saw Sherlock's powerful arousal, it excited her as well. He was completely exposed to her this way and willing for her to take complete advantage of his vulnerability.**

**"Oh God! Joan! Joan! Yes! Yes!" **

**Sherlock was in rapture as his wife pleasured him without letup. Sherlock trembled all over from head to toe, his eyes rolling back into his head as he literally saw stars when the pressure reached its peak in the pit of his belly.**

**"Help me, Joan! Yes! Yes!"**

**When his pelvis began to jerk in powerful involuntary spasms, Joan got onto him and took him inside her and they became incoherent, coming to climax together, crying out in ecstasy.**

**"Joan . . . Joan," I think you should send Miss Felicity a thank you card," Sherlock gasped when he could finally speak a coherent word again.**

**Sherlock murmured her name softly over and over as Joan finally released him from the restraints. Then he caught Joan upon his lap and kissed and caressed her over and over.**

**"You know that I knew you could get out of those handcuffs if you wanted to," Joan murmured in his ear as she nibbled his earlobe gently and ran her fingers through his hair.**

**"I didn't want to get out," Sherlock sighed. "You know I didn't want to get free till you had your way with me, luv."**

**"Oh Sherlock, my legs feel weak, I am loving you so hard."**

**Sherlock growled softly, picked Joan up in his arms and carried her off to their bed, lay down beside her and kissed her hungrily on her mouth and cheeks, on her breasts and all over her swollen belly and they were soon gone again.**

**"I love you so, Joan . . . my darling Joan," Sherlock gasped. "Oh, woman! Woman!" He cried out as they reached for the acme again.**

**Later that evening Sherlock got up from being with Joan and decided to work on the case. He saw the handcuffs that Joan had used on him earlier and smiled to himself. When he picked them up, a memory passed through his brain of the crime scene they had recently visited with Gregson. The handcuffs there were exactly the same kind as those Miss Felicity had given to Joan.**

**"Joan! Joan!" He shouted as he realized that he had had a breakthrough. He ran into the bedroom and sat on their bed to waken Joan who had been exhausted by their romp earlier.**

**"Umm, what, Sherlock? What did you find out?"**

**Joan's voice was sleepy and still in a very sensual mood. In addition to her still being naked in their bed this was almost too much for Sherlock to withstand.**

**"Joan, luv, I've gotten a breakthrough. The cuffs . . . cuffs are a clue to this thing. I need your keen mind to help me with this."**

**Joan sat up on the side of the bed, but the sight of her naked with her swollen breasts and pregnant belly shook Sherlock to his foundations. He was stopped in his tracks at the sight of Joan this way, intense arousal thundering through his flesh.**

**"Joan . . . Joan, I . . . I'm trying to explain something to you, but I find it impossible to focus with you like this, luv. I want you and I . . . I can't think about anything else at the moment."**

**Joan smiled at him knowingly and got up and wrapped herself in her robe and put on her horn-rimmed glasses.**

**"Now tell me what you figured out," she said in her most officious tone.**

**"It's the handcuffs. These are the same kind that were found at the crime scene. The color is not any of the standard colors. The shade of pink is just enough different to mean that it was a special order. But there is definitely a connection with Felicity's girls. There is a company called Safariland that specializes in this type of handcuff. The colored ones are quite popular with persons into the sort of thing her ladies specialize in. I think we need to have Miss Felicity come down to the precinct for a talk. We will get on that first thing tomorrow."**

**Sherlock shook his head, trying to dismiss the other thoughts running through his head. He was flushed, unable to go further.**

**Joan nodded, removed her glasses, and took Sherlock's hand and led him back to bed.**

**"Come sleep with me for a while longer, Sherlock. I think you need something else now, baby. The case will still be here in the morning. There is no need to deny yourself. I want you too."**

**The next morning Sherlock and Joan headed to the precinct. Sherlock had asked Gregson to bring Miss Felicity in for questioning.**

**When they arrived at the station, Felicity was just walking in. When she saw Marcus Bell, she smiled in recognition. Marcus had been quite smitten with her when they all had worked on an earlier murder case together. It was only her unsavory line of work that had kept Marcus from following up on his initial attraction. Now they greeted each other with smile as he led her into the interview room. Felicity's makeup was impeccable and highlighted her beautiful dark features ****and she was dressed smartly in a finely tailored bright navy skirt suit that emphasized her tiny waist and shapely hips. Her whole presentation of herself bore no hint of the dominatrix trade.**

**Sherlock and Joan took note of Bell's attentive manner and exchanged a meaningful glance.**

**Captain Gregson began the discussion.**

**"Miss . . ."**

**"Miss Ferguson, my name is Felicity Ferguson."**

**"Certainly. We just wanted to see if you could help us with this series of murders we are dealing with. Since the handcuffs we have found at these two murder scenes are exactly like the ones used by some of your 'workers,' we would like your ideas on which of your people might use these."**

**"Along with that," Sherlock said, "we would like to know from you if you have let anyone go recently because you sensed a dangerous bent of personality."**

**"Someone who may have gone so far as to inject a fatal dose of heroin into her victim," Joan added. "Someone who may have had an ax to grind with certain types of men perhaps."**

**"We are looking for a person with a decided glitch, something that would give us a clue to her murderous behavior," Gregson added.**

**"No one comes to mind immediately, but I will gladly go back through all my people and try to see if there are any leads to be found. I brought along my records." She turned toward Marcus Bell. "Perhaps you could go over these with me. A set of fresh eyes might see something I would miss. Detective?"**

**Marcus stammered a bit. "Of course, Miss . . . Ferguson. We should go into the interview room over here across the hall."**

**"Joan and I will try to find out who might have placed a special order with Safariland. For some reason I think that Detective Bell has things well in hand on this end," Sherlock said as he took Joan's hand and led her from the precinct.**

**"Sherlock, you are so bad. You were setting Marcus up!" Joan exclaimed as they walked from the building.**

**"It was obvious that he was aroused by her. He was totally flummoxed at the sight of her. He needs her."**

**"You, the man that didn't believe in romance. You are so sweet, Sherlock!"**

**"I am not sweet or nice, just practical."**

**"Yes, you were so practical at about one o'clock this morning, weren't you?" Joan teased him. " When you were so aroused you couldn't think about anything but my hind parts."**

**"Touché, luv," Sherlock flushed deeply, unable to continue for a moment.**

**"I rest my case, Sherlock." Joan smiled and tucked her arm into his.**

**"Did you notice how different she looked? She knew she would probably see Marcus again and wanted to dispel any negative reactions he may have had because of her profession. She wants him. She wanted him before and he wanted her as well, but he was put off by the whole dominatrix thing. Marcus is really a conservative sort of guy."**

**"So you think that she can loosen Marcus up?"**

**"Stranger things have happened, luv. Look at us."**

**Sherlock drew Joan even closer as they walked along together and bent to quickly kiss her lips.**

**Back at the precinct Detective Bell and Felicity Ferguson were staring at each other from opposite sides of the table after a brief discussion of her recent staff of sex workers.**

**"Miss . . ."**

**"You may simply call me Felicity, detective."**

**"And you may call me Marcus," Bell responded.**

**"Do you have anyone . . . wife . . . girlfriend? Marcus."**

**Suddenly they both realized the powerful attraction that was between them. Felicity sensed it and caught her plump bottom lip in her teeth. The sight of Felicity's unmistakable interest caused the pupils of Marcus' eyes to dilate in response and he felt an unmistakeable tightening in his gonads.**

**"No . . . I am basically by myself. My work is . . . quite interesting . . . and well, I just haven't met the woman I want to spend my life with, at least not till now. I must say I . . . I find you incredibly attractive."**

**"You are quite impressive yourself, detective."**

**"I just . . . wonder why a beautiful woman like you would go into your line of work."**

**"Marcus, could we go somewhere else where we could . . . continue this conversation?"**

**"Would you come home with me?" The words came almost unbidden from his own lips, even shocking him.**

**Felicity felt shyness for the first time in many years and it ****was reflected in her face. Marcus quickly tried to put her at ease.**

**"I . . . I'm not propositioning you. I'm not into pain."**

**"It may surprise you that I am not into pain either. But I was hurt, Marcus. I was a victim of some terrible things that I do not wish to recount at the hands of my stepfather. I was determined to never be hurt like that again, to never let a man do that to me. Yes, I know how to inflict pain, but for some strange reason I have no desire to hurt you."**

**Marcus felt the deepest compassion at that moment mingled with desire.**

**"Please come with me now. I can't continue this conversation here any longer. It wouldn't be appropriate, Felicity."**

**Marcus and Felicity left the station together and took his car to his place. They did not talk as they rode along, but Marcus reached for her hand and held it with his free hand.**

**When they reached his apartment, Marcus ushered Felicity in and took her coat from her to hang in the closet as she surveyed his extremely neat place.**

**"Your apartment is very nice, Marcus. I'm impressed."**

**"Would you like a glass of wine . . . some cheese or fruit, perhaps?"**

**Felicity nodded and Marcus went into the small kitchen to prepare a tray for them. Felicity followed him into the kitchen and when he turned and realized that she was right behind him, Marcus gasped as they bumped into each other. His arousal surged as he inhaled the scent of her perfume.**

**"Felicity!" Marcus cried her name and took her into arms and suddenly they were kissing passionately. "Oh, God! I want you."**

**They kissed hungrily. Marcus was pressing her up against the kitchen counter, his flesh completely excited by her. Then he stepped back and away from her and held his hands away from her.**

**"I'm sorry to push myself on you. Please just say 'no' to me. I'm not the kind of guy who forces himself on a woman, but you . . . you overwhelm me, girl."**

**"You overwhelm me too, Marcus, and that doesn't have to be a bad thing, does it?"**

**Felicity took his hand and led Marcus to the living room and then she loosened his tie and began to unbutton his shirt with definite purpose. Marcus tenderly kissed her over and over as he slipped off her jacket and her blouse and then pulled her shapely hips up against his own. **

**"I . . . I'm kind of lost here, lady."**

**"I don't think so, Marcus."**

**When Felicity gently nipped his lips with her teeth, Marcus suddenly groaned and Felicity's knees weakened. He picked her up and carried her into his bedroom and before they realized it they had shed all of their clothes and were in each others arms in Marcus' bed.**

**They both cried out and held on to each other for dear life easily finding their rhythm as they climbed to the summit and then crashed together.**

**As they lay quietly in each others arms afterward, they whispered to each other like the new lovers that they had become.**

**"You have me at a decided disadvantage, Miss Ferguson, and it feels very good."**

**"You are incredible, Marcus. I find myself speechless."**

**"Sometimes talking is overrated, sweetheart. We don't need to talk, do we?"**

**Felicity nodded her head in agreement and they succumbed to their desires once again.**

**Sherlock and Joan had just left Safariland where they had obtained a list of five persons who had ordered custom made handcuffs in special order colors. They eliminated four of the persons on the list and were discussing whether there was time to visit the last one on the list.**

**"Let's go home, Sherlock. I think I have run out of steam today."**

**"I'm sorry, luv. I must keep your condition in mind when we are running about like this, although I cannot forget it when I see you blooming before my eyes as you are these days."**

**Sherlock bent and kissed Joan tenderly as he held both her cheeks in his hands. Then he immediately hailed a taxi and took her home.**

**Joan wearily walked into their place and Sherlock took her coat and hung it up.**

**"Joan, luv, sit down and rest your lovely legs."**

**Sherlock took off her shoes and stockings and began to gently massage her feet and calves as he stretched out with her on their sofa.**

**"The baby . . . it's moving a lot more," Joan said, pulling her sweater up and off to display her belly to him. "Do you see how big I'm getting? I'm seven months, Sherlock." She loosened her bra, allowing her swollen breasts to roll free.**

**"You look like an adorable plump dumpling, full of all luscious good things."**

**"Dim sum?" Joan smiled. "You sound like you're hungry, baby."**

**"I am . . . for you. I love you so much."**

**Sherlock put both his hands on her midsection and felt their baby move inside her. His eyes filled and he leaned forward between her legs, his arms under her thighs squeezing her hips and rested his head there on her belly, kissing its fullness over and over. Joan reached down and ran her hands through his chestnut hair. She was fatigued from their active day, but she loved and wanted him as much as he wanted her.**

**"I want you to rest, Joan. I cannot tax you more right now. I must be considerate of your condition, luv."**

**"Promise me, Sherlock. Wake me up in an hour, please. We have a date."**

**Sherlock put an afghan over Joan and left her to take a nap. He would make a pot of tea, work on the case till Joan wakened from her much needed nap.**

**The next morning Sherlock and Joan decided to visit the last name on their list of leads from the previous day. Sherlock was pretty well convinced that this was the link that they were looking for.**

**"I think that we should call Gregson in on this. I don't want you in any kind of dangerous situation, luv. You are very obviously pregnant and we don't know what we are going to find here."**

**Sherlock and Joan sat in their car outside the building waiting till back-up came. When they went up to the apartment, there was no response, but then they heard sounds of distress from inside and suddenly a very tall woman dressed in black leather burst through the door nearly knocking Joan down before she was tackled by one of the officers that had come along with them?**

**"Joan!" Sherlock swore as he caught her just before she hit the ground.**

**"I . . . I'm okay," Joan's voice sounded shaken. "I'm okay."**

**When they went into the apartment, they found evidence linking the apartment's occupant to the two murders as well as one dozen pair of those infamous pink handcuffs.**

**It turned out that the woman in the apartment was on the list of former employees of Mistress Felicity. She had a very embarrassed client strung up in most uncomfortable fashion in the apartment, and the police quickly released him.**

**The woman in the apartment proved to be a DNA match for material found at the scene of the two murders they were investigating.**

**Gregson took charge of the situation and told Sherlock to take Joan home after they questioned the woman at the precinct.**

**"You should go home, Sherlock. We can wrap this one up. I think Joan will benefit from the rest, Sherlock. You have to take special care of her now. She's getting quite far along and you may need to be very careful with her. By the way, anyone seen Bell?"**

**"I think he may be solving another mystery," Sherlock said sagely.**

**He smiled at Joan as he led her from the station.**

**"You really think so? Marcus and Mistress Felicity?"**

**"Indubitably, dear."**

**They passed Marcus Bell on his way into the precinct as they were leaving. He smiled shyly, lifted his hand, and kept walking.**

**"Yes, he definitely and thoroughly enjoyed Mistress Felicity."**

**Sherlock gently patted Joan on her hips as they walked out to flag a taxi to take them back to the brownstone. Joan was still somewhat rattled after the confrontation they had experienced with the suspect. Being pregnant made Joan feel especially vulnerable at this stage of things. She was very protective of the baby she carried and Sherlock, while he respected her need to be in control as a woman, also was even more protective than normal of her as his woman. The pregnancy had profoundly changed Joan in terms of how she recognized her need for Sherlock's protection. Her kidnapping by Le Milieu had brought her to full realization of how dangerous their work could be and her knowledge that Sherlock was determined to keep her safe was a constant stabilizing force in their relationship.**

**"It frightened me when that bloke nearly knocked you off your feet, luv."**

**A shadow seemed to pass over Sherlock's countenance briefly as memory of his near loss of Joan the previous year passed through his mind, memory of how near he came to torturing and killing a man to rescue Joan from Le Milieu.**

**"You caught me so easily. I was so taken off guard."**

**Sherlock drew her to him and kissed her cheek hard as they walked along together.**

**"I dare say that it would be wise for me to take you home, luv. We have to be more careful. You are quite pregnant, you know?" Sherlock said gently.**

**Sherlock took Joan's hand in his and brought it to his lips and held it for the rest of their ride. His eyes had begun to fill. He did not dare say anything further during their ride back to the brownstone.**

**When they got inside the house, Sherlock took Joan into his arms and just hugged her over and over. He was extremely shaken.**

**"Joan, my dearest Joan, I need you so. I can't imagine where I would be without you. You must let me . . . take care of you. This case . . . is basically solved. Gregson and Marcus will finish off the details. No more going into the field on cases till you have the wee one. Will you allow me to take care of you this way?"**

**"Sherlock . . . Yes . . . Yes."**

**"Now that does not mean that I will not need your fantastic intellectual capacity to help me . . . solve things." Sherlock's voice broke. "I just can't lose you, luv."**

**Joan took Sherlock's hands and kissed them and then drew them down to her very round**** middle where their little one was moving at that very moment. **

**Sherlock fell to his knees in grateful tears, his arms circling around her, embracing her around her hips, his face pressed against her belly and Joan just ran her hands through his chestnut locks as he held her.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Joan and Sherlock. Chapter four**

Summary: Joan gives birth and Sherlock is there. Warning: the author has worked in the field of midwifery and the childbirth will be accurately depicted. Please be advised.

Disclaimer: Elementary is the property of CBS and no artistic infringement is intended**.**

**Sherlock and Joan were not surprised when Marcus Bell and Felicity Ferguson hit it off. The attraction between them had been quite obvious from their initial meeting. What surprised them all was that it was a wild, no-holds-barred affair that resulted in a total change in the lives of Marcus and Felicity.**

**Two months after Marcus and Felicity spent that day and night together followed by countless other nights together, Marcus came by the brownstone late one evening to speak to Sherlock and Joan. He had Felicity with him and it was obvious that it was a serious matter they wanted to discuss with them.**

**They sat holding hands on the sofa and Joan and Sherlock sat side by side facing them.**

**"I wanted to speak with both of you about this," Marcus said. "You both seem to be so . . . happy together, and now seeing you having a baby together. Well, we might as well tell you. Felicity is pregnant, and I am happy to take responsibility for that."**

**Marcus turned to Felicity and kissed her on her cheek.**

**"Marcus, you didn't plan this?" Sherlock was shocked.**

**"No, but we didn't take any precautions. We literally lost our minds when this thing hit us. Felicity told me last week that she had confirmed that she is really pregnant." Marcus smiled in spite of himself. "We thought it was a case of the flu."**

**Felicity looked suddenly ill and Joan took her to the bathroom.**

**"Morning sickness," Marcus said. "Sometimes it is evening as well."**

**"Marcus, you old dog," Sherlock said with a smile. "I knew this woman had your 'nose open' as they say, but you strike me as such a careful bloke, the kind with condoms in every drawer and every pants pocket."**

**"They were there but I didn't use them. We didn't think about anything except how badly we wanted each other." Marcus' eyes suddenly filled as his emotions overwhelmed him. "I need this woman in my life, Holmes. I have never been in love like this. I think perhaps you would understand this, seeing how it is with you and Joan. God, I love her. That first day I took her home, before we knew it, we got into bed together, and that was that. We have not spent a night apart since that first night. We want this baby and I want to marry her, Holmes."**

**Joan was sitting on the edge of the bathtub in their bedroom as Felicity threw up. When she composed herself, Felicity just shook her head. **

**"Joan, I just don't know what happened. I saw Marcus and I was done. I saw him and I wanted to be with him. Maybe seeing you and Sherlock together that day, you pregnant for him, made me realize what was missing in my life. I saw the two of you, and you know that I knew Sherlock before. But he was so changed, so focused on you, so in love with you. When I first met you with him on that case last year, I could see then that he was in love with you. **

**"And I have sold the business, Joan. I can't be with a cop and be in that line of work. I have training as a physical therapist. I'm going to be working in that again . . . after I have this baby."**

**"Marcus is tops, Felicity. Just be sure that this is the real thing."**

**"I know it is, Joan. I never ever risked getting pregnant with any guy. But I threw caution to the wind with Marcus. I wanted to carry for him. Is that weird?"**

**"Not if you love him the way you say you do. When it's like that, a woman knows it."**

**"And when we had intercourse and he was on top of me, I did not fear him. I did not want to dominate him, Joan. I have only known men who would hurt me, Joan, and I promised that I would the be the one doing the hurting if anyone was inflicting pain. But he didn't want to hurt me and I only wanted to surrender to him, and for the first time in my adult life, I did. I completely surrendered to moments of the most incredible pleasure, and I knew that he was the one. When he took me to the top of that roller coaster ride they talk about and I gave in to him, it was indescribable! It was beautiful and clean and wild and powerful at the same time. I hope that this conversation does not embarrass you, but I thought you would understand it. When I told Marcus that I was pregnant, he cried for joy."**

**Felicity's own tears began to flow and she and Joan hugged and they became friends from that day on.**

**When Joan and Felicity came back to the parlor to sit down with their men, Marcus caught Sherlock just staring at Joan and it was a stare that Marcus had become well famIliar with during the time that he had known them. At nearly seven months along, Joan was radiantly pregnant and the sight of her on this evening, wearing black tights and a bright blue sweater that clung snugly to her belly and swollen breasts evidently aroused Sherlock, as only Joan could do. He crossed his legs in an attempt to minimize his reaction but he was pitifully lost in his emotions and Marcus picked up on it.**

**"So, Holmes, we just wanted to tell you our news first. We're planning to get married next week and we want you two to stand up with us, if you will. No big affair . . . just my brother and a few friends. We are on our way now to a little pre-honeymoon weekend up in the Catskills. We need this time alone together. We are at that stage where we want to climb all over each other all the time and we need some privacy. I know that you and Joan would understand our predicament."**

**Marcus and Felicity took their leave of them and Sherlock and Joan just smiled and hugged and kissed each other after the front door closed. **

**Joan wanted to discuss thenMarcus/Felicity matter at length, but Sherlock kept holding her fast and his eyes had that languid, hangdog ****look she knew so well.**

**"May we talk about them later, luv? I am pathetically in need of you."**

**That is when he then began to kiss her all over her face and neck and Joan took him off to bed to take care of him. She never ever refused Sherlock and Sherlock, who had experienced Jamie Moriarty's wicked caprice, was constantly overjoyed at her willingness to be a vessel for his pleasure and joy.**

**The next week they stood along with Marcus Bell and Felicity Ferguson before a judge as they were married. Marcus was handsome in a light gray suit and his bride, Felicity, lovely in a simple flowing white wrap dress. Joan had puzzled over what to wear on her swollen belly and finally decided to wear a stunning blue silk jersey dress that advertised her pregnant state in a beautiful way, while Sherlock wore his favorite dark navy suit. After a small restaurant reception all saw the newly wed couple off on a wedding trip to the Bahamas. **

**On their way home in a taxi afterwards Sherlock leaned over and kissed Joan.**

**"You look quite stunning today, luv. This frock does adorn your pregnant figure in a most interesting way. My libido is so stimulated right now that I can hardly think. I am feeling quite needy, luv."**

**Sherlock took her hand and brought it to his lips and kissed it and then each of her fingertips while Joan ran her fingers through his hair with her other hand. In the darkness of the cab, his hand slipped up between Joan's thighs under her dress and squeezed her gently.**

**"Sherlock, I think I know what we are going to do when we get home tonight."**

**"I am sure you do, luv. My imagination is working overtime. Since becoming your consort, I cannot seem to get enough of you. And just the sight of you today is so stimulating that all I can think of is how much I love you and need you, my beautiful Joan. If Marcus finds in Felicity half the pleasure you have brought to me, his joy will be indescribable. I do love you so."**

**"Well, Felicity told me that Marcus is quite a package, if you know what I mean, so they are having a good time."**

**"Yes, hung like an elephant, " Sherlock grinned.**

**"Well, you are too, or maybe a hairy mammoth," Joan teased, patting him on his distended crotch.**

**When they arrived back at the brownstone and got inside, Sherlock kissed Joan tenderly and then picked her up and carried her off to bed.**

**As Joan entered her ninth month, Sherlock became increasingly concerned because her belly increased in size dramatically and her breasts became so full and heavy with their nipples constantly protruded, that Sherlock was constantly fascinated at the changes in her body. It was warm, late summer and Joan was very warm. She had taken to wearing mostly shorts and loose tee shirts that now had to stretch over her increasing girth and her navel had finally turned outward under the pressure.**

**Gregson had suggested that they have a dog for protection in view of past threats, and in view of that, they had adopted a huge black Lab, George, who had immediately made himself very much a part of the establishment. Sherlock felt more comfortable when he had to leave Joan alone these days.**

**Sherlock put his arms around Joan from behind her as she stood at the kitchen counter and he kissed her neck and her shoulders over and over as his slender fingers felt her belly with its precious burden.**

**"Joan, luv, you are so beautiful like this . . . like an orchid in full bloom. I cannot put in words my gratitude to you."**

**"Gratitude for?"**

**Sherlock turned her to face him.**

**"Gratitude for carrying our wee one. I see you like this . . . and I sense with all my soul the burden you are carrying."**

**"That's why it is called 'carrying'," Joan said with a secret smile.**

**"But you are so petite . . . tiny. The thought of your giving birth frightens me, Joan."**

**Joan put her hands on her hips as she spoke.**

**"Sherlock, do you realize that a quarter of the earth's population was born from women that look like me? I can have this baby, Sherlock. **

**At that moment there was someone at the door. When Sherlock opened, he was stunned to see his father there.**

**"Sherlock, I was in town briefly and I thought I would check to see how the renovations I suggested for this place were done."**

**"Welcome, father. You find us somewhat at a disadvantage since we did not expect a visit. Joan has been somewhat . . ."**

**Joan came to see who had arrived and was surprised to see the elder Holmes who was just as surprised to see a gloriously pregnant Joan wearing a large loose bright green tee shirt and white shorts.**

**"My God, Sherlock, what have you done to this woman? She is positively radiant!"**

**Sherlock flushed and smiled as he embraced Joan and kissed her cheek.**

**"We are expecting, father. . . very soon actually. Please come in. We will make tea. I have some excellent Earl Grey."**

**They moved into the parlor and Joan went to put on water for tea as Sherlock's father watched her intently.**

**"I am so proud of you, son. I had despaired of the Holmes line continuing what with Mycroft having had treatment for leukemia and your not seeming to be able to settle down. My congratulations, son, on a job well done! My dear Joan, you are fairly blooming."**

**Joan brought the tea and bowed respectfully as she served her father-in-law and then Sherlock.**

**"Do you know the sex of the wee one?"**

**"No, we wanted to just wait and see." Joan said as she sat down between Sherlock and his father.**

**"Sherlock . . . Joan may I touch you? May I touch the bairn?"**

**"Joan, do you mind if father touches his grandchild?"**

**Joan did not hesitate to agree, but lifted her tee shirt revealing her belly completely. It was so full, lightly sprinkled with freckles and her navel had even turned outward under the pressure of the load she carried. Sherlock took his father's hands and placed them on Joan's belly and he felt all around her. The baby suddenly moved and a tiny foot or elbow seemed to be pushing outward.**

**"The baby is very active. I think I am carrying a boy, but Sherlock thinks it is a girl."**

**The elder Holmes voice caught in his throat. **

**"This is the most beautiful thing, most beautiful thing that I have ever seen. No one told me this wonderful news. It seems that you will need a nursery added to your master bedroom."**

**Joan pulled her tee shirt down and Sherlock kissed her tenderly on her cheek.**

**"Thank you, luv," he said softly, his eyes fixed on her.**

**All three of them bonded in a very special way at that moment. For the first time in his life Sherlock felt unreserved affection from his father and total approval for the way his life was turning out.**

**"Father, perhaps you could stay and we might all go out to dinner."**

**"Actually, Sherlock, I have my driver and I must get to JFK to fly back to London this evening. But please notify me immediately upon the birth of my grandchild. I am very happy for both of you."**

**After Sherlock's father left, he and Joan simply hugged one another and went into their bedroom and lay down together.**

**"You are the beauty of my life, Joan. I love you so much. Did you see my father embrace our wee one in your belly? It was all three generations here together today . . . family, the sense of belonging is an amazing thing. I felt so powerfully bound to my father today."**

**Sherlock lifted Joan's tee shirt and kissed her all over her swollen belly, suckling her heavy breasts that were preparing for nursing, murmuring to his unborn child all the while. When Joan saw him caressing her belly and whispering to his child, she was overwhelmed and tears filled her eyes. **

**"Darling, you are crying?"**

**"I just realized how wonderful a father you will be. You love this baby as much as I, don't you?"**

**"Yes, I love this wee one and I love you, Joan . . . beyond my capacity to express. I love this beautiful fullness in your belly and breasts.****"**

**"I feel so unattractive like this, Sherlock, and yet you tell me that I am still beautiful with my body swollen with our little one."**

**"You are beautiful. I especially love the heaviness in your breasts and watching you move with our little one inside you. I see people looking at you; men see you and they know how you got what you have. They envy me because they know the joy that your woman's body is bringing to me. They know that I thrill to suckle your breasts and feel my offspring moving in your belly."**

**Sherlock kissed Joan's mouth over and over and they were soon lost in each other, speaking love words to each other. Sherlock tried to restrain himself but he desired Joan so that he was soon groaning passionately as he positioned himself against Joan's back and his parts found congruence and then connection with hers as he embraced her.**

**"Sherlock . . . Hold me, Sherlock. I love you so much. I want you to find comfort in me. You make me feel so much, baby."**

**"I don't want to tire you, luv, but I need to be close to you. You are the only woman I have ever been this close to, after being lonely for so long . . . so long."**

**They began to rock gently together, Sherlock carefully holding himself in check so that he would not unleash all his power on Joan, but at the same time he brought Joan all the way to the peak of release with him, leaving her gasping as it came over her.**

**"There you go, luv. Take it easy." Sherlock whispered in her ear as she trembled in his arms when her moment came.**

**Then suddenly, Sherlock lost control and saw stars as the moment of release captured him completely.**

**"God! Oh, God!" He cried out as it swept him. "I love you, Joan."**

**They lay joined together for a long time, enjoying the powerful attachment that was the center of their lives now, letting their emotions ease them down to the point that they could let the connection go.**

**Joan turned so that she could face Sherlock. She wanted to look into his eyes in the soft early evening light.**

**"I tried to exercise restraint, luv, but . . . I lose myself when we touch. When I see you like this, with our bairn in your belly, it excites me so much that I can hardly think of anything but being with you."**

**Sherlock's hand was rubbing her belly, feeling his little one moving inside her.**

**"But I just feel so heavy and ungainly these days, Sherlock."**

**"You are beautiful beyond any possible imagining, luv . . . beyond imagining."**

**Sherlock reached to their bedside table and retrieved the jar of special cream he had made from bee pollen and bees wax to rub on Joan's belly and he carefully massaged it into her skin.**

**Joan smiled as he took care of her this way.**

**"My doctor can't believe that I don't have stretch marks. I am going to let her just wonder."**

**"Well, you won't have any if I have anything to say about it. Look at you, darling. Father was very impressed with your womanly gifts."**

**Joan smiled and caught Sherlock's hand and kissed it. **

**"Will you massage my legs too, Sherlock? It feels so good when you do that."**

**Sherlock was delighted to attend to her this way, especially when Joan fell asleep under his ministrations as she did on this occasion. He covered her and left her to rest. **

**Sherlock took George for a walk while Joan slept. He enjoyed the exercise and the time to clear his head. He had been working solo on cases ever since Joan reached her seventh month so that she would not be taxed in her advanced stage of pregnancy and found that he missed working with his peer, his partner. Working in tandem with Joan had become such a joy for him. He missed the arguments, the blending of ideas, the moment of spontaneous solution. **

**When he got home, he checked on Joan, and finding her still sleeping made a cup of tea and carried it to the roof where he sat down with his bees and George. He had to reflect on his father's visit. Suddenly the sense of his father's approval of his life felt quite good. He was ready to be a father himself now and he vowed that he would be the affectionate father that he had craved and needed all his life . . . no boarding schools, no nannies, just the love of the two who had made him. He knew that Joan felt the same way.**

**Sherlock sat on the roof with George till the sun went down. He wanted to give Joan some space. The sight of her waddling about with his child in her belly just aroused him so much. She was so beautiful to him like this that the sight of her took his breath away. Her hair was nearly down to her waist these days, her eyes so full of her woman's wisdom as she carried her baby. Her soft breasts were barely confined in a soft sports bra most of the time and they were so full now that they looked as if the would float up from her bra. Sherlock so often found himself just staring at her in disbelief. **

_**I just can't comprehend what I feel when I look at my woman. I see her and I want her but I have to take care of her. God, my flesh craves her in the worst way. That moment when it happens for us just carries us away. And she is as passionate as I. And I love her so much. She is so heavy with child now and she still welcomes me sexually. I don't deserve her, but I am so thankful to have her as my wife.**_

**Sherlock went back downstairs and decided to work off some of his sensual energy by cooking, He set things up to make several loaves of her favorite banana bread.**

**When Joan wakened from her long nap, she smiled when she smelled the bread baking. She understood what her husband was doing. She understood it completely. He needed her and had to do something else to distract himself. He had said so earlier when they came together. She came behind Sherlock and leaned against his back.**

**Sherlock flushed as desire surged powerfully in him.**

**"Joan, luv, I find myself at a distinct disadvantage these days. I have such need of you, and I am trying so to be considerate of your gravid state."**

**"Baby, I need you as much as you need me. I just don't know what I would do if I didn't have you to care of my libido. I just see you and I want you, Sherlock."**

**Sherlock turned to face her with a look of unmitigated joy in his face and caught her up into his arms and kissed her soundly.**

**"You . . . my woman . . . my wife . . . I do love you so!"**

**Sherlock picked her up in his arms and carried her to the sofa and sat down with her straddling him on his lap and kissed her again and again on her face, her neck, the rise of her full breasts, her pregnant belly.**

**"Oh, God, Joan! I need you so."**

**Joan caught Sherlock's face in her hands and traced his lips with her fingertips. His eyes were full as he gazed at her in that way she knew so well and Joan loosened his pants and guided him inside her, watching him as his eyes rolled back into his head in ecstasy at the moment they connected once again.**

**The passion ran hot between them even as Sherlock tried to restrain himself in view of her delicate state. But as Joan moaned and cooed on him as they rocked gently together, he began to sob for joy as her parts gripped his again and again, till the climax swept over them at the same moment.**

**"Oh, God! Oh, Jesus!" Sherlock groaned. "You make me call on the Lord! Oh, God!"**

**"Sherlock, I wanted this so. Ooh, Sherlock!"**

**Sherlock gasped as he held Joan through her final trembling spasms onto him till she calmed and was finally able to speak.**

**"Sherlock, I am so hungry . . . the baby, you know, and your warm banana bread smells delicious."**

**"Of course, luv. Can we eat it in bed?"**

**Sherlock helped her up and buttered several slices of the banana bread and put them on a plate and he took it along with his wife as they went off to bed where Sherlock proceeded to delight Joan by feeding her his treat. Then he put the plate aside and took Joan into his arms for the countless time.**

**Joan also had another surprise late in her eighth month. The doorbell rang and when she went to the door, she was greeted by no one else but Mycroft. He was in a deep disguise but she recognized him just the same. **

**"Mycroft! I can't believe that that's you."**

**"May I step inside?"**

**"Just for a moment. Sherlock is not here and it would be better if you come only when he is here."**

**Mycroft stared at her advanced state of pregnancy, stunned at how radiant she looked.**

**"I can't believe what my brother has done to you! I heard this but I had to see for myself to believe it."**

**"Believe it, Mycroft."**

**"You did love him, didn't you? You always loved him."**

**"It was always Sherlock. And I wanted to carry for him. You left me feeling like a trollop, Mycroft, and I am still trying to come to terms with that. I was just a challenge to you, but Sherlock loved me and I love him."**

**"Has Sherlock forgiven you for being with me?" Mycroft smirked.**

**"I hope that he has. He will not even speak of it because he was so pained by that whole affair. But I have not forgiven you, Mycroft. You knew how he felt and then came after me anyway. You say you love your brother, but you know nothing about real love."**

**"I made a mistake, Joan. Even when we were intimate I sensed that you held back something of yourself. Please tell me that that is true and I will walk away."**

**"I did hold back something of myself from you, Mycroft, but I have held nothing back from your brother."**

**Mycroft dropped his head and turned to go, but then he turned back to face her.**

**"May I touch you . . . your belly before I go? You . . . look quite lovely with child."**

**"No, Mycroft, not now. I don't want you to ever touch me again. Please just leave me now."**

**Mycroft slowly walked out and away and Joan closed the door behind him. She put her hands under her belly to cradle the little one inside, and sank to the floor, her eyes filling with tears as once again she regretted the whole affair with Mycroft Holmes.**

**When Sherlock returned from his errand, he found Joan on the floor, cradling her belly and in tears. He sensed immediately that Joan was troubled and it concerned him greatly.**

**"What happened, luv? Are you all right?" **

**Joan's eyes brimmed with tears and Sherlock took her in his arms and kissed her tenderly, at which point Joan broke down in his arms.**

**"What happened, luv? What may I do to help?"**

**Joan just shook her head. "Mycroft came by here today. He heard that I'm pregnant."**

**"What did he want?" **

**"He said he wanted to see for himself. He asked to touch me . . . the baby here." She gestured to her belly.**

**Sherlock tried to remain calm, but he was incensed that Mycroft had come around at this point when Joan was so advanced in her pregnancy.**

**"Sherlock, I wish I had never met Mycroft. I just worry that you still may not have completely forgiven me . . . for having been with him. Mycroft asked me if you had forgiven me. Have you forgiven me, Sherlock?"**

**"You know that I forgive you. I love you, woman. I always loved you. I blame myself that I did not let you know how I felt before Mycroft came on the scene. But look at you now. You are carrying my child and I am the happiest I have ever been. Come and lie down for a while with me. I need you, Joan. And I do love you more than anyone in the whole world."**

**He led Joan to the bedroom and helped her lie down, lifting her tiny feet as he helped her onto the bed because she was becoming quite ungainly. Then he kicked off his shoes and trousers and lay down beside her and held her around the fullness of her belly and kissed her tenderly on her mouth.**

**"May I make love to you, Joan? I want to be with you in the worst way. I know that I must be considerate of your condition, but you seem to need assurance of the depth of my feelings for you."**

**Joan began to cry again, her emotions being more fragile than normal with the heightened hormone levels of pregnancy.**

**"Oh, Sherlock . . . hold me tight. I love only you . . . only you. When Mycroft asked to touch me here," she gestured to her belly, "I would not let him. I never want him to touch me again. Please hold me and tell me that you believe that I have always loved you."**

**Sherlock rubbed and squeezed Joan's flank and she responded to his touch and sighed gratefully. Sherlock groaned and took control of the matter of bringing both of them the release they needed so badly and when he positioned himself behind her so that their bodies could find congruence in intercourse, when they trembled and cried out in ecstasy upon reaching the summit, they knew that they belonged together.**

**"No more questioning what we have together, luv. Please no more questions. I love you so."**

**Joan gripped Sherlock's hand and kissed it, answering, "No more questions."**

**Sherlock drew the covers up over both of them and Joan slept, contented, but Sherlock lay awake.**

**That evening Sherlock sought a meeting through channels with his brother. They met on the Brooklyn promenade that very night. Sherlock sat down without looking at Mycroft.**

**"You went to see my wife today, Mycroft, and it upset her greatly."**

**"I'm sorry. I just needed to see her . . . to confirm what I had been told. In spite of what you may think, I did genuinely care for her, Sherlock."**

**"You from your own mouth acknowledged that I loved her more than any one and yet you took her into your bed. It escapes me . . . How that you said that you loved me as your brother and at the same time determined to take the one woman I love more than anyone and lie down with her."**

**"You know what they say, Sherlock, 'All's fair in love and war.' It was simply one of those things after all." There was a slight smirk in Mycroft's voice.**

**"You did not respect Joan or me. You used her, took advantage of her when you simply wanted her to prove a point to me."**

**"She will get over it, Sherlock."**

**"That is precisely why I still hold unspeakable resentment toward you because of this matter. I am trying to refrain from violence here because you are my brother. Also out of respect for Joan, I will refrain as well. She abhors violence. But, Mycroft, I must protect her. Especially now, she is extremely vulnerable. Do not try to contact her for any reason. In due time it may be possible to see our . . . child . . . after it is born, but for now, you must keep your distance. Do you understand me?"**

**"She is gloriously beautiful carrying your child, Sherlock. I must offer my best wishes to both of you. I do regret injecting myself into the relationship between you and Joan and I will try to refrain from such in the future. But you are my brother, Sherlock."**

**"And Joan is my wife, Mycroft. End of discussion."**

**Sherlock got up and walked away from his brother into the night and Mycroft sat there on the stone bench for a long time before he got up and went on his way into the night. It would be a very long time before he would see Sherlock again.**

**The next couple of weeks were the most difficult for Joan. She continued to become heavier as she reached the final stage of her pregnancy, but Sherlock attended to her constantly as her time drew near.**

**It was late in September when it happened. Joan had lain down to rest in the afternoon and she had to get up to relieve herself. As she walked across her bedroom floor, Joan felt a sudden heavy pressure and water started to stream down her legs. **

**"Oh, Sherlock . . ." she cried out, gripping her belly.**

**George, their trusty Lab, was instantly alert at the sound of her outcry and came to her to check her out. **

**"Get Sherlock, George!" **

**The dog went to the office area and pulled on Sherlock who was working there. Sherlock jumped up from working at his computer to come to her. His heart seemed to come into his mouth when he saw the look on her face.**

**"Joan!"**

**"My water broke, Sherlock. The baby . . . Is coming."**

**Suddenly Joan felt the first pain and staggered forward to Sherlock who caught her, picked her up in his arms and carried her back to their bed.**

**Sherlock quickly dialed 911 for help and then turned his attention back to Joan, who was already having another contraction.**

**"They are coming too fast . . . the pains. Oh, Sherlock, I feel my baby coming. Help me!"**

**Sherlock was in a panic, frozen to the spot for a moment.**

**"Get a stack of towels from the linen closet, and help me take my panties off."**

**Sherlock pulled off the panties that were soaked with amniotic fluid. Joan grunted in pain and gripped Sherlock's hand.**

**"Oh, Sherlock! I'm already having another contraction! It's been less than three minutes. The ambulance won't get here in time."**

**Sherlock ran for towels and when he came back, Joan was groaning in pain again. Joan accelerated into hard labor right before his eyes. She was hot and, losing all her natural modesty, threw open her robe, totally exposing her nakedness and bracing her legs to push bear down.**

**"Put the towels under me and hold my legs so I can push, Sherlock."**

**Sherlock was shaking as he got onto the bed and did as Joan directed with the towels and then, held Joan's legs up. He was desperately trying to help her and could not bear to see her in this kind of pain.**

**"Joan, luv, hold on! I can't do this!"**

**"Sherlock, you don't have to do it. It's happening. Oh, God, Sherlock, I need you to please hold my legs up." **

**Joan grabbed the wooden dowels in the bed's headboard and the whole bed shook as another pain struck her. **

**"The baby's head . . . it's in the birth canal. I'm hurting so, Sherlock."**

**Sherlock could see that Joan was completely dilated and then he saw the baby's head begin to stretch her open.**

**"I see the baby, Joan! Oh , Joan, luv! Hold on!"**

**"I can't! I have to push this baby out!"**

**Joan finally gave up and screamed out loud for the first time as the baby's head forced her pelvis to give way. It was crowning. She was bathed in sweat as she pushed and labored to give birth. **

**"Sherlock!" she screamed again as the baby's head pushed all the way out, followed quickly by his round little body that just plopped into Sherlock's shocked hands and began to cry.**

**"Oh, God! Joan, the baby . . . our baby is here. Oh, darling . . ."**

**"What is it, Sherlock?"**

**Sherlock held up the baby who was crying lustily now so that Joan could see his fat little penis. **

**"We have a son, Joan, a beautiful little boy! Oh God, we have our son!"**

**Tears were streaming down Sherlock's face as he wrapped the infant in a towel and placed the baby in Joan's arms as her placenta slipped from her. It had just been a half hour since Joan went into labor.**

**George began to bark as he heard the EMS knocking at the door and Sherlock bent to kiss Joan tenderly.**

**"Woman, you just about scared the crap out of me, do you realize that?"**

**Joan smiled weakly, but triumphantly as she held her baby to her breast. When he smacked his tiny lips, she gave him her breast and he nursed without hesitation.**

**Sherlock went to let the EMS people in.**

**"You people are just a bit late," he stated in his typical manner and then promptly passed out. **

**One of the attendants immediately began to try to bring him around and the other two went to assist Joan. Sherlock quickly came around and struggled to his feet and back to Joan's bed where the EMS technicians were cutting the umbilical cord and finishing things with Joan.**

**"You both done great, sir. You have a fine baby boy there and your wife weathered it well. We want to take her to hospital and get mother and baby checked out and you need to be checked out as well. You will all be home tomorrow, barring anything unforeseen. That is just a precautionary measure."**

**On the way to the hospital Sherlock sat in wonder watching Joan holding their son. Joan smiled up at him and kissed the top of their infant's head.**

**Later Sherlock sat in Joan's hospital room at her bedside and waited for their little one to be brought back to them. They were both exhausted by the experience of the day but at the same time elated beyond measure.**

**Joan had dark circles under her eyes after her birthing ordeal, but she was as beautiful in Sherlock's eyes as she had ever been. She was trying to braid her long hair but just did not have the energy to do it so Sherlock helped her just twist her long hair together.**

**"I know I look a mess, Sherlock."**

**"I beg to differ with you, luv. I would never have imagined that you would have to deliver yourself. You are amazing. Seeing you push our baby out like that . . . I think I have never seen anything so frightening and yet so beautiful."**

**"You helped me, Sherlock. When the baby started coming, I was powerless to hold him back. I'm sorry to have frightened you so."**

**When the nurse came and placed their son in Joan's arms, they opened the blue receiving blanket and carefully examined him, checking each of his tiny toes and fingers. He had weighed in at a very healthy seven pounds, ten ounces. His blue eyes followed them and he gripped his father's finger tightly. His hair was a dark auburn thatch like Sherlock's. There was a lot of it and there was a dusting of tiny freckles on his round little belly.**

**"Ryland Watson Holmes," Sherlock said, calling him the name they had chosen in the event they had a boy child. **

**When the infant began to fret, Joan took him to her breast and he began to nurse, and, at that point Sherlock broke down in tears of joy, holding Joan's hand, his head resting on the bed next to her. Joan reached for him, running her fingers through his hair as he wept silently.**

**"I have been such a wretched man, Joan. I have believed nothing, had no faith in God or man, but here I am with this beautiful gift of my own issue. If there is a higher power, I do thank him for you, my wife, and my son with all that I am."**

**He caught Joan's hand and kissed the back of her hand and then caught her palm to his lips and kissed it.**

**The birth of little Ryland had added another dimension to Sherlock and Joan's lives. Sherlock was ever the attentive father, sharing all the daddy duties and generally he was the one who could be seen walking along holding Joan's hand and carrying little Ryland in a sling in front of him.**

**Joan bounced back rapidly from the precipitous labor and childbirth she had experienced. Her obstetrician warned her that although Joan obviously was a woman gifted with the capacity to carry and give birth easily, that she was also in that small percentage of women who give birth very quickly after the onset of labor and should have that in mind in the event of future pregnancies. And Joan was thrilled with motherhood. She was gifted also with a fine flow of rich milk and enjoyed nursing and nurturing her son more than she would have ever imagined. **

**Sherlock was overjoyed with the whole experience as this new phase of their life together began. It seemed that everything was falling in place for him and Joan. Family life agreed with him in every way. Sherlock's own father came to visit again when little Ryland was just a month old and rejoiced to hold his first grandson in his arms.**

**Little Ryland became the center of their parents lives. Joan had wanted to carry for Sherlock first of all to atone for her dalliance with Mycroft. It was the age old way a woman proved her love for a man when it had come into question. But what she could not have foreseen was the joy and fulfillment she would receive from pregnancy and childbirth. And also the effect the whole experience would have on Sherlock was something that neither of them could have anticipated. He had come into his own completely as a man when he married Joan and now, becoming a father had taken his manhood to another level. And he would go on to solve some of his most difficult cases during this period of his life.**

**Joan retreated from working along with him in the field, but she was to remain his constant partner and collaborator otherwise. She was his peer, his muse actually.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Joan and Sherlock Chapter five**

**4,995 words**

Summary: Joan gives birth and Sherlock is there each time. Warning: the author has worked in the field of midwifery and the childbirth will be accurately depicted. Procreation becomes a major force in their lives as we follow them through the years.

Disclaimer: Elementary is the property of CBS and no infringement is intended.

**Joan's second pregnancy was also a decision on the part of both of them to let nature take its course and not use any artificial form of birth control. The affair with Mycroft was in the distant past and it was now all about the passionate relationship between the two of them. Joan had nursed little Ryland till he was nearly three years old and that had acted as a sort of control of her fertility, but when she weaned him finally, both of them realized that they wanted as many children as they could have in the few years of fertility that still remained for Joan.**

**Sherlock was ready and able to impregnate Joan again.**

**Sherlock was jubilant at the prospect of becoming a father again. When her baby bump became evident even sooner than expected, Joan was concerned and asked her OBGYN doctor who informed Joan and Sherlock that they were going to have twins.**

**Joan was not surprised to be pregnant again. She wanted to carry for him again. Sherlock and Joan had lost none of the passion or powerful libido that had characterized their relationship from the beginning and they were still there for each other, meeting all of their sensual needs. They often had to arrange to have an afternoon completely to themselves to attend to the urges that controlled them. Sherlock was convinced that one of those afternoons was the propitious time for Joan, the moment she had conceived the twins.**

**"And how are you so certain, Sherlock?" Joan asked as he stood behind her with his arms around her as Joan stood at their kitchen counter.**

**The sensation of his still slender muscular frame against hers excited Joan just as much as ever. She still found it difficult to keep her knees from giving way when he would hold her this way.**

**"I know all of your moods, luv, every one of them. I know when your biology is working overtime. You were like a wild woman that morning."**

**He turned Joan to face him, pushing her against the kitchen counter and then kissing her over and over the way that he did, his mouth searching frantically to plumb the depths of hers.**

**"As I need you now. Come lie down with me, woman. You know how pathetic I am when I'm like this. I can't think about a case or anything other than you today."**

**Joan put her hands around his scruffy cheeks and gave him that smile of acceptance that Sherlock knew so well. He was so flushed from arousal, his nostrils taking in her scent, his pupils fully dilated.**

**"When is Mrs. Hudson bringing Ryland back? We need some time without him climbing into our bed."**

**"I told her that I would call her when she should bring him back home. Come, luv."**

**Sherlock took Joan by the hand and led her into their bedroom. He took her back into his arms and held her so tightly that she felt all the excitement he was experiencing. Joan swooned into him and Sherlock drew her up against him for another passionate kiss.**

**"Oh, Joan . . . I do love you so much!"**

**Joan moaned and sighed as he pushed down the skirt and tights she was wearing so that he could touch her flesh and then drew her tee shirt up and off her and pulled her down onto him on their bed. As Joan crawled onto him and took him, they both cried out as they came together in the mating that always brought them such intense pleasure.**

**"Sherlock . . . Sherlock," Joan gasped as she gave herself to Sherlock in complete surrender as her body vibrated in the spasms of the climax.**

**"Oh, luv, luv!" Sherlock snorted and panted as his release came. He was trembling from head to toe as those familiar brilliant lights flashed in his brain.**

**Finally he just held his wife on him and told her all that was in his heart, those special intimate words he never shared with anyone but her, whispering softly, murmuring to her all his words of love and adoration as he lay carried away with her.**

**"I hope these little girls look just like their mother," Sherlock said as they gladly looked forward to the birth of twin girls.**

**Sherlock was elated. Ryland was the precocious image of Sherlock, a beautiful little boy with his father's ruddy coloring and blue eyes and a thatch of straight red hair. When Joan had him in hand in public, people often took her to be his nanny rather than his mother.**

**They were in anxious anticipation of the birth of their twins as Joan came into her seventh month. She was already looking as if she were at full term and ready to give birth any day, but her doctor felt she had at least two more weeks to go. Joan could hardly walk because of her heavy belly. Sherlock attended her constantly, giving up all his work consulting so that she would not be left alone.**

**Their friend Mrs. Hudson was invaluable at that time, taking active little Ryland on excursions each afternoon to give Joan the rest she needed to handle her advanced pregnant state. Sherlock became more and more agitated as Joan coped with her situation. He had to help her from bed, help her shower, massage her feet and legs.**

**On the day of Joan's last appointment with her obstetrician before her due date, Joan's water broke as Sherlock was helping her get off the examining table.**

**"Sherlock, the babies are coming now. Call Dr. Bernstein back in here, please."**

**Sherlock kissed her tenderly and hugged her.**

**"Darling, I can't bear to see you suffer."**

**"You know that I can do this. Now call the doctor for me. I don't think I have time to get to the hospital."**

**Dr. Karen Bernstein was a friend of Joan's from med school and had been delighted to see her friend find a man who was her peer intellectually and yet was obviously perfectly matched to her sexually. Now as she saw Sherlock pacing anxiously running his hands nervously through his hair, she comprehended the depth of their love for each other.**

**Joan was quickly in hard labor and reaching for Sherlock to grip his hand as each pain came. With Sherlock on one side and Dr. Karen's nurse on the other Joan opened her legs and pushed to bring her little girls into the world. She only began to scream in pain when the first baby stretched her pelvis to come through the birth canal.**

**"Help me, Sherlock! Help me push, baby!"**

**Joan was crying and sweating as the first baby crowned and plopped out into Dr. Karen's hands, crying and squalling.**

**"You're doing fine, mother. You have your first little girl."**

**Sherlock stared in wonderment as his little girl was placed in his hands.**

**"Joan, she is here," he said.**

**"Oh, God, the other one," Joan moaned as the second baby pushed its way down through her birth canal.**

**Sherlock gave the baby to the additional nurse who was helping and took hold of Joan's hand and helped her brace to give birth. Joan cried out with each contraction now, unable to hold back. Then with a supreme effort she pushed the second baby out and then collapsed, exhausted and crying along with Sherlock.**

**Little Sharon Rose and Marian Rose Holmes were beautiful babies with coal black hair. They were identical and looked just like Joan with the exception of their blue eyes that came from Sherlock.**

**Sherlock and Joan were thrilled to welcome the twins and Joan was blessed with a generous flow of milk to nurse her healthy babies. Sherlock continued to rejoice in his children, and managed to help Joan with all aspects of infant and child care. When Joan recovered from the twins' birth, she quickly regained her svelte figure, except for the glorious nursing breasts which would be a source of continuing comfort and fascination to Sherlock.**

**They picked up their consultant work again. They had discovered that Joan had an uncanny gift of objectivity and was able to help sort out the salient facts and help Sherlock come to right conclusions even though she was not with him physically at crime scenes these days.**

**Sherlock's never flagging ardor for Joan was only matched by her passion for him. They never could seem to get enough of each other and everyone around them knew it, even though they tried to conduct themselves discreetly most of the time. Miss Hudson remained a constant help in their lives and, as such she had lost count of how many times she had walked in Sherlock and Joan in a passionate clinch, or heard them groaning and moaning together when they forgot completely that others were within earshot of them.**

**When the twins were three years old, Joan weaned them and within just one menstrual cycle she was pregnant again. She was forty-seven years old and supremely happy.**

**Her pregnancy progressed normally and the coming of autumn was welcome as Joan tried to cope with the heaviness of her advanced pregnant state. Sherlock was constantly with her, fascinated with the whole process of procreation.**

**Sherlock had taken to staying with Joan constantly the last month and Gregson made regular visits to the brownstone to discuss cases with them. As they sat discussing the case, Joan suddenly reached for Sherlock's hand and gasped in pain. When she stood up, water ran down onto the hardwood floor.**

**"Joan . . . "**

**"Help me, Sherlock!"**

**Sherlock looked at Gregson in panic.**

**"It happens so fast for her. There's no time!"**

**Sherlock picked Joan up and carried her to the bedroom while Gregson called 911 and then washed his hands and followed Sherlock to assist with Joan.**

**Joan was already in hard labor and Sherlock was frantic at the sight of her in such pain.**

**"Damn, Gregson, I can't do this again. I can't stand to see her in pain."**

**"Hang on, Sherlock, I have basic skills here. You aren't alone. Keep your head."**

**"Sherlock . . . Take my panties off. I have to have this baby."**

**She gripped her belly and cried out as another contraction seized her.**

**"Hold my legs, Sherlock. I need you to hold my legs."**

**Joan was already in the last stage of labor and she cried out in agony as her pelvis stretched open to give birth.**

**"Let me hold her legs, Sherlock. Your son is coming into the world."**

**The next instant, the baby crowned, opening Joan up completely and dropped into his father's hands squalling for all he was worth. Sherlock held the infant for Joan, as he kissed her forehead gratefully.**

**After she gave birth to Alistair Robin, at the age of forty-eight, Joan and Sherlock were happier than they would ever have imagined that marriage and family life would bring. They were a handsome family with their growing tribe of four beautiful children. Alistair Robin had flaming red hair and freckles all over, but the big brown eyes were his mother's. And Joan was the perfect mother, nursing and nurturing her children.**

**Sherlock and Joan thought that her childbearing years were finished when Joan finally weaned Alistair Robin when she was fifty-one years old. Joan was as lovely as ever, the wide streak of white in her hair the only indication of her aging. Her body still captured the fascination of Sherlock, who himself remained as vital as ever. His beard was now mostly grey but his muscled body was still the source of the most intense delight to Joan when he lay down with her. He had never looked at another woman after Joan had accepted him.**

**They had arranged the brownstone well to accommodate their brood of children, with emphasis on protecting them. The upper floors were where the children's bedrooms were, and their dog, George, slept on the landing on the second floor. Sherlock and Joan's master bedroom along with its nursery was on the lower floor giving them the privacy they so needed for themselves.**

**It was late on a summer's evening when Alistair was three years old. Even though he was mostly weaned he still loved to nurse evenings and Joan's breasts continued to satisfy him and Joan cherished her little boy in her arms as he suckled happily from her breast. She had had milk constantly since the birth of her first child and was proud of the way her woman's body provided for her children. Her breasts and nipples were fully developed from all the years of nursing, something which fascinated Sherlock to no end.**

**Sherlock was working on a case, but he was distracted by the sight of Joan nursing his son this evening. He wanted her. His member quivered as he recalled the sensation of how her flesh would snugly hold his, rocking on him in that amazing way that she did.**

**"He's asleep, Sherlock, my little red-headed lovely boy," she said, as she kissed her youngest, who so reminded her of Sherlock.**

**Sherlock looked at Joan and winked suggestively as Joan carried Alistair into the nursery and put him to bed before returning to the family room where Sherlock was working. Joan had not resumed her period as she began to wean Alistair from her breast. She was curious as to the state of her fertility, but without a clue really. Her reproductive system had functioned amazingly as she had easily given Sherlock four children in just over ten years.**

**It was one of those evenings when Mrs. Hudson had taken the three older children on an outing, leaving Sherlock and Joan with some private time. Joan came to a Sherlock and sat on his lap.**

**"Sherlock, I need you in the worst way."**

**"Lord, woman, why didn't you say something earlier? Your hips have been constantly distracting me today."**

**Sherlock kissed Joan, opening up her mouth to his, frantically plumbing its depths as his hands pulled down her soft shorts and panties.**

**Joan was undressing him with definite purpose, nipping him on his neck and near his clavicle. Sherlock felt that marvelous surge of passionate energy flowing between the two of them. It was always there when they came together like this.**

**"I need you so today. I need you inside me, Sherlock. Please help me . . . I need you."**

**Sherlock looked at her curiously for a moment and smiled.**

**"You feel like a young fertile lassie today. Are you wantin' me to give you one more wee one, luv?"**

**"Ooh, Sherlock, I just am so crazy for you. You can do whatever you want to me today. You take such good care of me. Ooh, Sherlock. . . ****Please!"**

**"Lord, Joan, you are so hot, luv. You feel like you're ovulating."**

**"I don't know, baby. I just know that I need you in the worst way."**

**Joan took Sherlock's hand, put it where she wanted it, and sighed in relief as he caressed her, touching and rubbing her the way she wanted to be touched. She was trembling all over as Sherlock then picked her up in his arms and marched into their bedroom and shut the door behind them.**

**Joan was practically climbing all over him, grabbing him and fondling him as they kissed over and over.**

**"God! Joan . . . Yes, luv, yes!"**

**Sherlock mounted her and she took him, scratching and biting him as he pushed into the depths of her quickly and powerfully and then they began to rock together.**

**"Yes . . . Sherlock . . . Yes . . ."**

**Sherlock took her to the summit several times and each time was more powerful than the one before it. It was warm and they sweated profusely as they gave themselves to the rhythm of coitus, crying out for the sheer joy of the union of their flesh and spirit as man and woman.**

**Joan's climaxes were so intense that she cried out his name over and over every time those brilliant lights flashed in her brain.**

**"Oh, God, Sherlock! Sherlock!"**

**Sherlock felt that moment, that explosion in his testicles that portended his release and his whole body shook in spasms as it happened for him at that supreme moment when Joan's body slid into complete surrender to him.**

**"Joan! Joan, I can't stop trembling . . . all over! I love you," he cried exultingly.**

**They lay together, exhausted in their marriage bed, murmuring softly to each other the love words that filled their hearts.**

**"Joan, love, are you ready to be a pregnant fifty-one year old lady?"**

**"Do you think you caught me today?"**

**"Um hum, I think we found your propitious moment, you sexy woman. Your biology seems to be in overdrive."**

**Sherlock nuzzled Joan and smoothed her long hair back from her flushed face. Then he bent to suckle her breasts as they lay together. Joan moaned softly as her husband became excited and began to touch her intimately, then squeezing her breasts and the softness of her belly. Her body instantly responded to him and she welcomed him again.**

**When Mrs. Hudson brought the other children home later that afternoon, Sherlock had showered and was sitting at his desk working on the case. Joan was sleeping in their bed recovering from their passionate afternoon. Her children ran and got onto the bed with her and she kissed and hugged the little ones. Ryland, now ten years old was changing into a teenager and he sought out his father to tell him about his day.**

**"Mom, you look tired, one of the twins said, smoothing Joan's long hair.**

**"Your mom's been busy this afternoon, Marian Rose, she needs to rest. Why don't all of you have a snack and get ready for bed now? Thank Mrs. Hudson for a pleasant outing," Sherlock said, avoiding looking directly at Mrs. Hudson, who had already surmised that her friends had spent the afternoon in bed.**

**The children had their evening snacks and went off to bed and Joan fell asleep again as well, but Sherlock sat up, trying to work on the case. But his mind went again and again to his woman sleeping in the next room. He sensed that he had impregnated her once again. Finally he got up and made tea and took it in for Joan who was very drowsy still from their earlier activity.**

**"Joan, luv, I made some Earl Grey. Let's drink it together."**

**They lay down in their bed together and Sherlock simply gazed at Joan for a long moment. He reached and smoothed Joan's hair, smiling the smile he kept only for her.**

**"You are so beautiful . . . Joan, especially now . . . so satisfied. Your lovely womb was aching to be filled today, luv, wasn't it?"**

**Joan nodded and her eyes filled with tears.**

**"Please hold me, Sherlock! Hold me tight! Sometimes I want you so. And when I feel you inside me, I am so thankful that I have you. I'm fifty years old and I still want you as much as that first day I walked into this house."**

**Sherlock caught Joan up to him and kissed her passionately, his mouth plumbing the depths of hers and he took her hand and put it where he craved it.**

**"This is yours, Joan. It belongs only to you. Do you want me to attend to you?"**

**"Yes! Yes! Oh, Sherlock, please, I want you so."**

**"I will lock our bedroom door and love you all night long . . . all night long."**

**Sherlock was always alert to take care of Joan in this way. Their children were accustomed to seeing their parents embracing or even kissing each other and it made them feel very secure in the knowledge that their parents loved them.**

**Joan, at the age of fifty-one, had conceived once again. Her menstrual cycle did not resume and within a month she began to experience morning sickness.**

**Sherlock showed proper repentance, but he was actually thrilled at the prospect of another child. He teased Joan about her powerful libido but he suffered her morning sickness along with her every day and watched every change in her woman's body as her pregnancy advanced.**

**This pregnancy was very special to Sherlock and Joan because they knew that it would be the last one as Joan was obviously in her peri-menopausal years. As Joan reached her third month, she began showing and this was a strong indication that she might be carrying twins again.**

**Dr. Bernstein confirmed this on a warm summer afternoon in Joan's fourth month. Joan's belly already looked like she was in her sixth month and Dr. Karen only confirmed what they already knew.**

**Joan's belly easily stretched to accommodate the little ones she carried. She was healthy and extremely happy as she reached the climax of her childbearing years with twins in her belly. Sherlock could not keep his hands off her constantly patting and rubbing her astonishing belly as it grew right before their eyes.**

**Sherlock loved to sit in his leather chair in his bedroom with Joan on his lap, as they kissed and nuzzled each other, Joan's legs straddling Sherlock's as he pulled up her top so that he could rub and feel her bare belly.**

**"You are so full, luv," Sherlock whispered into his wife's ear as she lay on him. "Did I tell you this morning when we made love how beautiful you are?"**

**"Yes, you did. I am so full and so contented, Sherlock. Just hold me."**

**Their children were coming and going and they were accustomed to see their parents in moments of special closeness like this. This day though they needed privacy as they both felt an urgent need for more.**

**"I think we need to send them upstairs to play . . . so that we might have some quality time," Sherlock said, as he eased Joan from his lap and turned so that he would not be facing his children till his flesh calmed.**

**Joan smiled, well aware of the effect she was having on her very passionate husband. She went into the kitchen and prepared a tray of favorite apple slices and cheese for their children as Sherlock stared at her, wanting her.**

**"Sherlock, will you take this tray upstairs for Ryland and the girls while I put Alistair down for a nap. Then we can have a little nap as well."**

**Sherlock bent to steal a kiss before leading his older children upstairs.**

**Joan lay down with her toddler and hugged him and he nursed for a little while and then promptly fell asleep in his mother's arms. Joan wanted to be with Sherlock on this afternoon and her desire for him was as strong as before they had ever had sexual relations. She covered her three year old and then turned to lie on her back just as Sherlock came back into their bedroom. He picked up his young son, gently put him in his crib and came back to lie down with her.**

**"Joan . . . I need you so this afternoon."**

**Joan giggled softly as her husband of more than ten years wooed her. She loved him so when he was like this, so aroused that he could not focus on anything but her, kissing her all over her face, pulling her tee shirt and panties off so that he could touch her all over her naked body.**

**"You are so lovely like this, Joan."**

**"I'm so huge with your babies in me. I feel like a cow, Sherlock."**

**"You're beautiful . . . so beautiful like this. I want to kiss you all over today. Please let me enjoy you that way today."**

**Joan smiled and let herself enjoy her husband in that way that still held them both as captive as the first time they had been together.**

**They were soon both incoherent as the climax swept them.**

**Joan carried for nearly eight months before she gave birth to twin boys. They each weighed nearly six pounds and Joan had barely been able to walk by time she delivered. Sherlock had truly been fearful to see her so huge, despite Joan's repeated reassurance that a quarter of the earth's population had been borne from tiny Chinese women like her.**

**Joan went into labor at the baby shower her friends Fran and Emily gave her. Sherlock had come to pick her up from the restaurant and was leading her out to get a taxi home when she suddenly doubled over in pain as the first pain caught her and her water broke.**

**"Call 911! My wife is in labor and she is having twins!" Sherlock was on the phone.**

**Joan was on one of the benches in the restaurants reception area gripping her belly as her friends attended her and Sherlock was holding her hands as another contraction took her. They were all acutely aware of Joan's tendency to deliver precipitously.**

**The restaurant's proprietor stood anxiously.**

**"Do you have a private room? My wife is going to have twins!"**

**"In here."**

**Sherlock picked Joan up and followed him into a small room behind the reception area where there was a sofa.**

**"Sherlock . . . the babies are coming! Help me!"**

**Joan pulled up her knees to position herself to give birth and grunted in pain as Sherlock helped her take off her soaked panties. Joan had accelerated into **

**hard labor in just a few minutes as Fran and Emily held her hands.**

**Just then the EMT's arrived and took charge of the situation.**

**"Thank God! She's . . ."**

**"We can't move her now. The baby is crowning!" The EMT said. "Hold on mother!"**

**"I have to push!" Joan groaned.**

**She pushed hard and the first little boy's head opened her up and he came into the world squalling. The EMT handed the infant to Fran and then continued to help Joan. She was sweating profusely as the contractions to bring the second baby seized her.**

**"Joan . . . I love you. Hold on please!" Sherlock begged, holding ****her legs up for her.**

**"I can't hold it back. Oh, Sherlock, keep holding my legs!"**

**Joan was panting and puffing as the second baby pushed his way out. When he crowned, Joan screamed the only other time and the second infant's head came out followed by his plump little body and Joan fell back, exhausted as the EMT passed the second baby to Emily. Joan smiled when she heard her baby cry.**

**"Luv, we have the twins. They are beautiful!" Sherlock was in tears, down on his knees beside her.**

**Emily and Fran came to realize the depth of love Sherlock and Joan shared as never before on that day.**

**The EMTS wrapped things up and took Joan and the twins to Mt. Sinai to be checked out. The babies were healthy and Joan was naturally exhausted. They decided to keep Joan and do the tubal ligation that she and Sherlock had agreed to have.**

**That evening Sherlock sat at Joan's bedside holding her hand, kissing it over and over as Joan drifted and dozed.**

**"You were beautiful today, my darling Joan, so beautiful."**

**"I dropped those babies today like an old pussycat, didn't I?"**

**Sherlock smiled and leaned over to kiss her in no uncertain terms.**

**"Yes, you did, luv."**

**Two days later Sherlock took Joan and the twins, Winston Albert and Wilson Allen Holmes, home to meet the rest of their children. The boy twins were beautiful with Sherlock's coloring and they would have Sherlock's stature, but with Joan's brown eyes.**

**That was the way it was with Sherlock and Joan. They had made a beautiful life with each other and their tribe of six handsome children. Sherlock continued to solve cases for the NYPD. Joan did not go in the field with him but worked with him as an analyst, using her brilliant mind to assist him in whatever way was necessary, using the remainder of her time to homeschool their precocious children through the elementary school years. Mrs. Hudson assisted her in teaching the children, using her natural ability as an autodidact to teach them Greek and Latin before they were ready to go on to secondary school.**

**As they reached their mid-fifties, Joan never ceased to stir Sherlock's passions. She was still incredibly beautiful with her hair streaked with a wide streak of white, but her body now showed the evidence of her having given birth to six children. She kept about thirty pounds as she nursed the twins, her breasts full and heavy with milk, stunning and enthralling her husband and her hips retained the broadness that was a result of the last pregnancy; her belly was soft and lush now, but Sherlock's eyes saw no other woman but her. The roundness and lushness of her body entranced him constantly. He was happy when Joan volunteered to breast feed preemies at a nearby hospital because her breasts retained the size and fullness that thrilled him so much during her childbearing years. He would lie in bed with her, suckling to his heart's content, rejoicing to lie on her gorgeous swollen breasts late at night or early mornings when they sought out private intimate time together.**

**As for Sherlock himself, his hair and his beard were now fully mixed with grey, but his eyes were just as clear and blue, his body still firm and muscular. He was as passionate as ever, following Joan around the brownstone, panting after her, wanting her, still perpetually in need of the comfort of her flesh where he knew that he would find peace for his powerful libido in those moments of ecstasy when they babbled incoherently to each other, when it happened for them. The passion he had for Joan would never diminish. Just the memory of the scent of her, the sound of her feeling good in his arms, the taste of her, was so stimulating that he immediately would have to go and find her and be her man all over again just as if it were the very first time.**


End file.
